New figures from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) showed premiums reaching SR9.4 billion or an increase of 8.1 percent during the same period DUBAI: Net income of Saudi Arabia’s insurance sector fell by 59.2 percent in the second quarter, compared to the same period last year. This was attributed to a steep drop in operating income from SR709 million ($189 million) to SR74 million. New figures from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) showed premiums reaching SR9.4 billion or an increase of 8.1 percent during the same period. Protection and saving insurance led the rise in gross written premium (GWP), recording a 34 percent rise to SR436 million. GWP is used to measure an insurance’s company’s revenue health. Premiums of health insurance rose by 6.6 percent to SR5.1 billion, and the motor insurance sector fell by 9.9 percent to SR1.7 billion year-on-year. Both insurance types retained a substantial portion of their business, SAMA showed, with retention ratio reaching 97.6 percent and 94.5 percent, respectively.