Tunisia: Tunis Re expected to continue to show strong profitability
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Jul 2025
The earnings of Societe Tunisienne de Reassurance (Tunis Re) are strong for its rating, underpinned by solid underwriting performance, Fitch Ratings has said.
The global credit rating agency expects Tunis Re’s profitability to remain strong due to its solid underwriting expertise and high retrocession standards, which mitigate earnings volatility resulting from FX movements or adverse international claims experiences.
Fitch has affirmed Tunis Re’s National Insurer Financial Strength (National IFS) Rating at ‘AA(tun)’. The outlook is ‘Stable’.
Tunis Re’s National IFS Rating is driven by its strong creditworthiness versus its local peers’, benefiting from its leading domestic market position and its extensive international presence in higher-rated countries than Tunisia.
Fitch noted that Tunis Re reported a robust net combined ratio of 95.9% in 2024 (2023: 92.7%) despite wider losses from the April 2024 floods in Dubai. This resulted in the company’s Fitch-calculated gross loss ratio remaining high at 64%. Tunis Re’s conservative reinsurance practices helped contain the net impact, despite higher natural-catastrophe retention versus 2023. The Fitch-calculated return on equity (ROE) was 8.5% in 2024 (2023: 7.7%).
Aside from strong profitability, other key factors driving Tunis Re’s rating include its leading domestic market position, adequate capital, and effective retrocession. These factors are offset by high domestic assets risk. M