KUALA LUMPUR (May 27): Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Bhd (KL:TAKAFUL) said its net profit rose 9.48% for the first quarter, helped by an increase in contractual service margin (CSM) release.

The better earnings were also due to higher premium allocation approach (PAA) contract portfolio from the general takaful segment, the group told Bursa Malaysia on Monday.

Net profit for the three months ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024) was RM102.3 million compared to RM93.44 million a year earlier. This marks the group’s highest quarterly net profit since 4QFY2021, when it recorded a net profit of RM156.14 million.

Earnings per share increased to 12.22 sen from 11.15 sen.

Quarterly revenue grew 35.28% to RM1.02 billion from RM757.38 million in 1QFY2023, driven by a higher contribution release of RM67 million from general takaful, an increase of RM188.6 million in charges for takaful coverage and wakalah fees for family takaful, and a higher release of CSM amounting to RM6.7 million.

No dividend was declared for the quarter.

Looking ahead, Syarikat Takaful said the group will continue to focus on its core businesses in bancatakaful, treasury, employee benefits, and general takaful where it has established a strong presence in the takaful industry.

Even though global challenges such as inflationary pressures, relatively higher interest rates, and weak consumer sentiment are expected to persist in the near term, Syarikat Takaful believes there are significant opportunities in the takaful market.

The group’s strong capital and liquidity buffers position it well to seize these opportunities during this challenging period, it said.

“Whilst we are the leaders in the aforementioned segments, we continue to diversify our business portfolio into the retail family takaful market. Our flagship brand Kaotim continues to show positive results and we are focused to continue to build on the positive results seen thus far by expanding products on the Kaotim platform.

“In this segment, our focus is young professionals and the digital savvy, a market segment which cannot be ignored, and we believe that this segment will mature into a key market segment with growing protection needs in the future,” it added.

Shares of Syarikat Takaful closed unchanged at RM3.86 on Monday, valuing the group at RM3.23 billion.