Bahrain-based Solidarity, an Islamic insurance company, said on Sunday it received $8 million of insurance premiums in its first year of operations. Head of marketing Sharif al-Rayes told Reuters the firm expected premiums to increase by about 25 percent to $10 million in its second year of operations.
The firm was launched in September 2004 by Gulf Arab and European investors.
Customers include Durrat al-Bahrain, a $1.2 billion real estate development project in the Gulf Arab state. Solidarity also offers retail Islamic insurance products.
Islamic insurance, known as Takaful, works in a similar way to conventional mutual insurance. Premiums are paid into a pool which customers effectively own, with any surplus at the end of the year repaid to customers, less the insurer's fee.