Shares of Saudi insurer fall as Saudi Binladin Group files claim for crane disaster

The insurance firm said it had received the claim on September 13 and it had appointed evaluators licensed by the country’s banking regulator to determine the damage caused by the accident.

Shares of Saudi-listed United Cooperative Assurance (UCA) fell by as much as 2.5 per cent yesterday after the insurer received a claim from the Saudi Binladin Group for the deadly crane collapse on September 11 at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

The insurer said it had appointed inspectors to assess the damage that occurred during the incident that killed more than 100 people and wounded about 400.

UCA shares opened down 32 halalat, before recovering to close the day down 1.9 per cent at 12.38 Saudi riyals, its lowest level in nearly two weeks.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark Tadawul All Share Index ended the day 1.4 per cent lower at 7,365.98.

An investigative committee in the kingdom last week sanctioned the Saudi Binladin Group over the crane collapse, saying the company was “in part responsible” for the incident, noting that “norms of safety” at the site had not been observed.

The group, one of the kingdom’s largest construction conglomerates, will be excluded from new public projects pending legal action against it.

UCA said the impact of the incident would be reflected in its fourth-quarter results, adding that reinsurance agreements covered more than 98 per cent of its coverage of the Saudi Binladin Group.

The insurer, which is among some 35 insurers operating in Saudi Arabia, has a market share of less than 2 per cent at the end of March, according to a report by Albilad Capital.

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