The Effect of Company Specific Factors on the Profitability of Property & Casualty Insurance industry in Egypt

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the factors that affect the financial performance of insurance market in Egypt. Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) were used as proxy for measuring financial performance. This study investigated the effects of company specific determinants such as: leverage, tangibility of assets, liquidity, company size, underwriting risk, and solvency margin on profitability by using multiple regression technique. Dependent variable was profitability measures, while independent variables were leverage, tangibility of assets, liquidity, underwriting risk, company size, and solvency margin. Secondary data obtained from the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) of insurance companies in Egypt were investigated as a panel data during the period from 2008 to 2017. The results illustrate that underwriting risk has insignificant effect on ROA, on the other hand, underwriting risk has significant effect on ROE. Liquidity has a negative effect on leverage and solvency margin. Also, there is a positive relationship between company size and ROA. Solvency margin has a positive significant effect on the profitability for Egyptian insurance market. In addition, the adverse and statistical relationship between solvency margin and leverage is important.