The ins. industry is adapting to a new and more volatile region: Global re-ins. firms have begun inserting get-out clauses into their policies to hedge against the potential of a full-scale Middle East conflict, writes the Financial Times, citing four industry insiders. Local insurers under the new contracts will lose their reinsurance coverage for any newly underwritten asset in the event of the clause being triggered.

Expect to claim less for more:To make matters worse for insurers, re-insurers are also upping prices and pressuring primary insurers in Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel to cap coverage — which in tandem with the get-out clauses make doing business in the region riskier and costlier than it previously was.

ALSO WORTH MENTIONING-

Citigroup to slash nearly 10% of its workforce: Citigroup will cut 20k jobs over the medium term in a bid to save up to USD 2.5 bn and boost the struggling US bank’s returns. (Earnings presentation, pdf)

ADX

9,791

-0.5% (YTD: +2.2%)

DFM

4,104

-0.3% (YTD: +1.1%)

Nasdaq Dubai UAE20

3,900

-0.3% (YTD: +1.5%)

USD : AED CBUAE

Buy 3.67

Sell 3.67

EIBOR

5.0% o/n

5.1% 1 yr

TASI

12,060

-0.5% (YTD: +0.8%)

EGX30

25,974

+1.8% (YTD: +4.3%)

FTSE 100

7,625

+0.6% (YTD: -1.4%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,480

+0.8% (YTD: -0.9%)

Brent crude

USD 78.29

+1.1%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 3.31

+7.0%

Gold

USD 2,051.60

+1.6%

BTC

USD 42,425.94

-1.3% (YTD: -0.4%)

FTSE 100

7,625

+0.6% (YTD: -1.4%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The ADX fell 0.5% on Fridayon turnover of AED 1.1 bn. The index is up 2.32% YTD.

In the green: Gulf Pharma Industries (+12.1%), Chimera S&P Pakistan (+9.3%) and E7 Group (+7.5%).

In the red: Umm Al Quwain General Investment (-4.4%), Eshraq (-2.6%) and Easy Leace (-2.3%).

The DFMclosed down on Friday turnover of AED 249.87 mn. The index is up 1.1% YTD.

Asian markets sagged at the opening bell but have since recovered and are cautiously in the green as investors digest Taiwan’s election results on the first day of trading this week. European benchmarks look uniformly set to open in the green later this morning, while the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq are all flirting with the red.

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

Drive announces a 2-for-1 stock split: ADX-listed Emirates Driving Company (Drive) has received board approval to split the company’s shares, reducing the share’s nominal value from AED 1 to AED 0.50, according to a bourse filing (pdf). The split seeks to double the total number of issued shares from 89.8 mn to 179.5 mn.

The company also approved the capitalization of AED 448.9 mn worth of retained earnings,increasing its share capital to AED 538.7 mn (or 897.9 mn shares), according to the filing.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *