Mercantile Islami Insurance financial analysis: 2025 combined ratio 110.7%, fire net claims Tk 181.7m (Oct 2026)

Investment considerations: 2025 EPS Tk 1.65 against Tk 1.94, combined ratio 110.7%, four emphasis-of-matter paragraphs

What it is. Mercantile Islami Insurance PLC (DSE: MERCINS) is a non-life insurer incorporated in Bangladesh on 19 March 1996 and traded on the Dhaka Stock Exchange from 7 December 2004 [1 p.6]. Its earlier reports carry the name Mercantile Insurance Company Ltd. [2 p.35]. It writes fire, marine cargo, marine hull, motor and miscellaneous business, has 43,095,360 shares of Tk 10 [1 p.111] and reported 17 branches at the end of 2025, against 19 at the end of 2024 [1 p.44]. Sponsors and sponsor directors held 31.43% of the shares at the end of 2025, against 34.48% a year earlier [1 p.111].

Where it stands. Gross premium was Tk 416.7m in 2025, 11.8% lower than the Tk 472.3m of 2024, and net premium was Tk 273.8m, 29.6% lower than Tk 388.6m [1 p.117] [18]. The underwriting profit transferred to the profit and loss account was Tk 25.0m, against Tk 4.2m in 2024 [1 p.95]. Profit after tax was Tk 70.9m (EPS Tk 1.65), against Tk 83.6m (EPS Tk 1.94) [1 p.94]. On one combined-ratio definition used for every insurer in this note, the 2025 ratio was 110.7%, against 89.0% in 2024 [18]. The auditor, Kazi Zahir Khan & Co., gave an unmodified opinion with four emphasis-of-matter bullets and six key audit matters [1 p.84] [1 p.89]. Profit after tax for the first half of 2026 was Tk 19.1m, against Tk 22.9m [6 p.5]. DSE-announced nine-month 2026 EPS was Tk 0.54, against Tk 0.64 [8]. The shares closed at Tk 42.8 on 1-Nov-2026, against Tk 25.4 on 30-Oct-2025 [7] [18].

Sources of shareholder returns. Investment and other income exceeded underwriting profit in all nine years 2017-2025 and was the larger part of pre-tax profit in each; in 2025 it was Tk 77.4m, 91.0% of pre-tax profit of Tk 85.1m, and the underwriting profit 29.4% [2 p.35] [1 p.44] [18]. Within 2025 non-operating income, interest and dividend income was Tk 143.2m and the loss on sale of shares Tk 66.0m [1 p.94]. Return on average equity was 8.0% in 2025; over 2018-2025 it ranged from 5.7% (2023) to 10.5% (2021), with 2018-2023 profit derived from printed EPS times 43,095,360 shares [18]. Net operating cash flow was 0.05 times profit after tax in 2025 [1 p.100] [18]. The board recommended a 10% cash dividend for 2025, Tk 43.1m, which is 60.8% of 2025 profit after tax [1 p.109] [18].

• Fire claims: gross fire claims of Tk 232.7m in 2025 with re-insurance recovery of Tk 1.3m (note 21(iii)); the filings name no event behind them.
• SBC and co-insurer balances: Tk 754.9m receivable and Tk 752.5m payable at 31-Dec-2025, unconfirmed according to the auditor; no ageing is printed.
• FDRs with 'non-viable banks': the auditor cites BB Circular BRD/12-Resoulation/2025-753 (spelling as printed); the notes give no bank-by-bank list of the Tk 1,062.7m.
• Claims accounting: the auditor states claims were recognised 'on a settlement basis instead of an accrual basis'. The FY2026 audited accounts are not in the corpus at 1-Nov-2026.
• Commission: the H1 2026 statement prints one line, 'Management Expenses and Commission', Tk 56.1m against Tk 73.1m. TBS reported on 24-Dec-2025 that IDRA ended non-life commission payments; the filings do not link them.

Commission rule. The Business Standard reported on 24-Dec-2025 that IDRA scrapped commission payments in the non-life insurance sector [9]. Agency commission was Tk 46.2m in 2025 [1 p.95]; the H1 2026 statement has no separate agency-commission line [6 p.2]. The filings do not link them.

Business: marine cargo 49.9% of 2025 gross premium, miscellaneous 25.4%, fire 23.4%; retention 65.7%

How it makes money. A Bangladeshi general insurer collects premium, cedes part of each risk to reinsurers (who pay a commission back), sets aside a reserve for the unexpired part of each policy, and pays claims, agency commission and management expenses from the rest. Mercantile Islami's revenue accounts close the unexpired-risk reserve at 40% of fire premium income, 50% of marine cargo, 100% of marine hull, 40% of motor, 100% of health and 50% of miscellaneous premium income of the year [1 p.96] [1 p.97] [1 p.98]. Management expenses are charged to the revenue accounts 'on the basis of Insurance Rules 1958' [1 p.117]. The class revenue accounts add up to the underwriting profit; interest, dividends and other income, less expenses not charged to any class, give the 'Net Profit/(Loss) transferred to Profit or Loss Appropriation Account', from which tax is deducted in the appropriation account [1 p.94].

Classes. Marine cargo wrote Tk 208.1m of gross premium in 2025, 49.9% of the total, and the company kept 77.0% of it after reinsurance [1 p.117] [18]. Miscellaneous wrote Tk 105.9m (25.4%) and kept 60.7%; fire wrote Tk 97.4m (23.4%) and kept 46.2%; motor wrote Tk 4.3m (1.0%) and kept 97.7%; marine hull wrote Tk 1.1m (0.3%) and kept 4.8% [1 p.117] [18]. The underwriting result by class: marine cargo made Tk 122.2m, miscellaneous Tk 42.5m, motor Tk 2.5m and hull Tk 2.0m, and fire lost Tk 144.2m [1 p.117]. The directors' report states that motor business 'was lower due to making motor third party liability insurance non-obligatory for motor vehicles by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA)' [1 p.53].

Public-sector business and SBC. Note 21(i) splits each class into 'Direct Business: Own' and 'Direct Business: SBC & Govt. Business' [1 p.117]. SBC and government business was Tk 108.6m of 2025 gross premium (26.1%), against Tk 103.8m (22.0%) in 2024 [1 p.117] [18]. Re-insurance premium ceded on SBC and government business was Tk 99.1m in 2025, against Tk 10.7m in 2024, and total re-insurance premium ceded was Tk 142.9m against Tk 83.7m [1 p.117]. Retention (net over gross premium) was 65.7% in 2025 against 82.3% in 2024 [18]. Note 15 describes the receivable as the 'amount due from Sadharan Bima Corporation on Public Sector Business and other Insurance Companies on Co-Insurance Scheme' [1 p.115].

Nine years of premium. Gross premium rose from Tk 324.6m in 2017 to a high of Tk 541.7m in 2022, then fell in each of 2023 (Tk 507.5m), 2024 (Tk 472.3m) and 2025 (Tk 416.7m) [2 p.35] [1 p.44]. Annual growth ranged from minus 11.8% (2025) to plus 27.7% (2021) [18]. Net premium peaked at Tk 388.6m in 2024 and was Tk 273.8m in 2025; the 29.6% fall in 2025 is the largest of 2018-2025 [18]. Retention ranged from 50.6% (2019) to 82.3% (2024) [18]. By class, the directors' report gives 2025 gross premium against 2024 as Tk 97.36m against Tk 138.55m for fire, Tk 209.16m against Tk 234.71m for marine, Tk 4.30m against Tk 4.49m for motor and Tk 105.88m against Tk 94.58m for miscellaneous [1 p.53] [1 p.54].

Underwriting: 2025 profit Tk 25.0m after a Tk 54.2m reserve release; fire lost Tk 144.2m

Claims. Net claims under policies were Tk 173.7m in 2025, 63.4% of net premium, against Tk 182.3m (46.9%) in 2024 [1 p.95] [18]. Claims paid during 2025, net of re-insurance, were Tk 237.4m, and outstanding claims fell from Tk 357.0m to Tk 293.4m [1 p.95]. Fire produced Tk 181.7m of the 2025 net claims: gross fire claims were Tk 232.7m and re-insurance recovery on fire Tk 1.3m [1 p.117]. Fire net claims were 404.4% of fire net premium [18]. Marine cargo net claims were minus Tk 9.0m: re-insurance recoveries and a fall in outstanding cargo claims from Tk 37.0m to Tk 28.0m exceeded cargo claims paid [1 p.97] [1 p.117].

A conflict in the 2024 claims figures. The 2025 revenue account prints 2024 claims paid of Tk 20,542,537 and 2024 net claims of Tk 182,339,617 [1 p.95]. Note 21(iii) prints, for 2024, gross claims of Tk 715,235,730, re-insurance recovery of Tk 856,490,272, a paid figure of (141,254,542) and a 'Net Amount' of 20,542,538 [1 p.117]. The two 2024 net-claims figures differ by Tk 161.8m; this note uses the revenue-account figure, which the 2024 underwriting profit of Tk 4.16m reconciles to [1 p.95].

Commission and expenses. Agency commission was Tk 46.2m in 2025 (11.1% of gross premium) against Tk 55.3m (11.7%) [1 p.95] [18]. Commission earned on re-insurance ceded was Tk 24.9m against Tk 26.7m [1 p.95]. Management expenses charged to the revenue accounts were Tk 108.0m, 39.4% of net premium, against Tk 134.8m (34.7%) [1 p.95] [18]; their split was marine cargo 49.93%, miscellaneous 25.41%, fire 23.36%, motor 1.03% and hull 0.26% [1 p.117]. Note 21(i) prints 'Total Direct Expenses' (net commission, net claims and management expenses) of Tk 302,955,172 for 2025, against net premium of Tk 273,761,624 [1 p.117].

Reserve movement. The reserve for unexpired risks fell from Tk 195.8m to Tk 141.6m in 2025, and the Tk 54.2m release is added to the underwriting result; in 2024 the reserve rose by Tk 38.6m [1 p.95] [1 p.117] [18]. The fire reserve fell from Tk 36.1m to Tk 18.0m and the marine reserve from Tk 103.5m to Tk 80.2m [1 p.96] [1 p.97].

Nine years of underwriting. The underwriting margin (underwriting profit over net premium) ranged from minus 9.6% (2023) to 17.0% (2021) over 2017-2025 and was 9.1% in 2025 [2 p.35] [1 p.44] [18]. Underwriting profit was Tk 50.4m in 2021 and Tk 46.3m in 2022, minus Tk 29.7m in 2023, Tk 4.2m in 2024 and Tk 25.0m in 2025 [2 p.35] [1 p.44]. The 2024 and 2025 fire accounts carried losses of Tk 164.6m and Tk 144.2m [1 p.94].

Investments: Tk 1,062.7m of FDRs in 603 receipts, interest Tk 138.0m, share losses Tk 66.0m

Where the money sits. Cash and bank balance was Tk 1,113.4m at 31-Dec-2025: fixed deposit receipts Tk 1,062.7m, STD and CD accounts Tk 33.3m, cash with the BO account Tk 14.0m and cash in hand Tk 3.5m [1 p.115]. The company states that it 'maintains a total Nos. of 603 Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) with various banks, along with 7 Short-Term Deposit (STD) accounts and 30 Current Deposit (CD) accounts' [1 p.115]. Treasury bonds were Tk 60.8m at 31-Dec-2025 against Tk 35.0m at 31-Dec-2024 [1 p.93]. Listed shares were carried at a fair value of Tk 180.4m at 31-Dec-2025 against a cost of Tk 239.0m [1 p.114]. The notes give no bank-by-bank list of the FDRs; we searched every note and the auditor's report [1 p.115] [1 p.89].

Yield and losses. Interest on FDR of Tk 138.0m in 2025 is 12.4% of the average FDR balance of 2024 and 2025 (derived) [1 p.115] [1 p.116] [18]. The profit-or-loss line 'Profit On Sale of Share' was minus Tk 66.0m in 2025 and minus Tk 7.6m in 2024 [1 p.94]. During 2025 the company sold shares for Tk 132.3m and bought shares for Tk 126.9m [1 p.100]. Note 13 shows the NBL holding at a cost of Tk 39.2m at 31-Dec-2025 against Tk 131.5m a year earlier, and CITYBANK, PRIMEBANK and UTTARABANK holdings at nil against Tk 7.1m, Tk 33.8m and Tk 13.2m of cost [1 p.114].

A conflict in the fair-value reserve. The statement of financial position shows a 'Fair Value Reserve for Investment of Share' of Tk 19,689,588 at 31-Dec-2025 and minus Tk 58,538,680 at 31-Dec-2024 [1 p.93]. Note 13.01 computes the fair-value reserve 'as at 31 December 2025' as minus Tk 58,623,639 (fair value less cost) and the 'Fair Value Adjustment for the year' as Tk 19,689,589 [1 p.114]. The balance-sheet reserve equals the note's adjustment for the year; the balance-sheet and note year-end figures differ by Tk 78.3m. The 2024 note figure is minus Tk 78,313,228 against the 2024 balance-sheet figure of minus Tk 58,538,680 [1 p.114] [1 p.93].

Nine years of investment income. Investment and other income ranged from Tk 64.4m (2018) to Tk 96.1m (2024) over 2017-2025 [2 p.35] [1 p.44]. Investments and FDR, as printed in the five-year tables, were Tk 1,243.1m at 31-Dec-2025, against a high of Tk 1,546.6m at 31-Dec-2023 [2 p.35] [1 p.44]. Investment and other income over average investments and FDR ranged from 5.7% (2022) to 7.5% (2019) and was 5.9% in 2025 [18].

Ratios 2017-2025: ROE 8.0% in 2025 within a 5.7%-10.5% range; equity 39.1% of assets

Returns. Return on average equity was 8.0% in 2025 against 10.0% in 2024; the 2018-2025 range runs from 5.7% (2023) to 10.5% (2021) [18]. Profit after tax for 2017-2023 is derived from printed EPS times 43,095,360 shares, because the five-year tables print no profit-after-tax line; 2024 and 2025 use the printed Tk 83.6m and Tk 70.9m [1 p.94] [18]. Return on average assets was 2.9% in 2025 and ranged from 2.0% (2023) to 3.8% (2021) [18]. Equity was 39.1% of total assets at 31-Dec-2025, against 33.3% at 31-Dec-2024 and 56.4% at 31-Dec-2017 [18].

Earnings per share. Printed EPS was Tk 1.29 (2017), Tk 1.11 (2018), Tk 1.43 (2019), Tk 1.68 (2020), Tk 2.08 (2021), Tk 1.95 (2022), Tk 1.15 (2023), Tk 1.94 (2024) and Tk 1.65 (2025) [2 p.35] [1 p.44]. The share count is 43,095,360 in every year of both five-year tables [2 p.35] [1 p.44]. Pre-tax profit ranged from Tk 47.8m (2023) to Tk 118.7m (2021) [2 p.35] [1 p.44].

Cash conversion. Net cash provided by operating activities was Tk 3,546,910 in 2025 and Tk 79,047,212 in 2024 [1 p.100]. Collections from premium and commission were Tk 333.0m, against Tk 395.2m, and payments for management expenses, commission, re-insurance and claims Tk 297.1m, against Tk 294.4m [1 p.100]. Note 28, the reconciliation of profit to operating cash flow, ends at Tk 3,546,910 for 2025 and at minus Tk 17,120,077 for 2024; the 2024 figure differs from the Tk 79,047,212 in the cash-flow statement [1 p.119] [1 p.100]. Dividends paid were Tk 43.1m in each of 2024 and 2025 [1 p.100].

Peers 2025: combined ratio 110.7% at Mercantile Islami, the highest of the 11 general insurers compared

The set. The peers are ten Dhaka-listed general insurers with December year-ends, audited 2025 accounts and live AnalystBro notes: Karnaphuli, Peoples, Nitol, Islami, BGIC, Central, Eastland, Eastern, Asia Pacific and Federal. Each peer's full auditor's report, including any emphasis-of-matter and other-matter paragraphs, was read from its own 2025 report before any figure was taken: from page images in full for Islami, from page images for the opinion and basis or emphasis pages of BGIC and Karnaphuli, and from the text layer for the remaining pages and peers [19 p.148] [21 p.256] [23 p.181] [25 p.98] [27 p.318] [29 p.3] [31 p.141] [33 p.3] [35 p.98] [37 p.4].

One definition. For every company the combined ratio is net claims plus revenue-account management expenses (including any separately printed stamp line) plus agency commission, less commission earned on re-insurance including any profit commission, over net premium, all for 2025 from each revenue account, computed in unrounded taka [20 p.181] [22 p.264] [24 p.189] [26 p.110] [28 p.329] [30 p.11] [32 p.153] [34 p.22] [36 p.107] [38 p.14] [18]. On that basis Mercantile Islami's 110.7% ranks 11 of 11 counting from the lowest; the range is 63.7% (PEOPLESINS) to 110.7% (MERCINS) [18]. Peers marked * have an auditor's qualification that touches an input to this table (BGIC, CENTRALINS, EASTERNINS, FEDERALINS); see the opinion table. Without them Mercantile Islami ranks 7 of 7 from the lowest, with a range of PEOPLESINS 63.7% to MERCINS 110.7% [18].

Claims and returns. Mercantile Islami's net-claims ratio was 63.4%; for the ten peers it ranged from -2.0% to 27.4% [18]. Return on average equity, from each company's printed profit after tax and equity at 31-Dec-2024 and 31-Dec-2025, was 8.0% at Mercantile Islami; across the ten peers it ranged from 3.7% to 13.2% [18]. Mercantile Islami's net premium of Tk 273.8m ranks 2 of 11 from the smallest [18]. These comparisons are limited to the 11 companies in the table.

Balance sheet and audit: unmodified opinion with four emphasis-of-matter bullets; Tk 754.9m due from SBC and other insurers

The opinion, word for word. The auditor, Kazi Zahir Khan & Co., Chartered Accountants (partner Mohammed Alamgir Kabir FCA, dated 30 APR 2026, DVC 2604301483AS941880), headed its opinion 'Opinion' and wrote: "In our opinion, the accompanying financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the statement of financial position of the company as at 31 December 2025, and its financial performance and its statement of cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSS) and International Accounting Standards (IASS), the Companies Act 1994, the Insurance Act 2010, the Securities and Exchange Rules 2020 and other applicable laws and regulations." [1 p.84] [1 p.92]. Under 'Basis for Opinion' it wrote: "We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements section of our report. We are independent of the company in accordance with the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants' Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (IESBA Code), and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with the IESBA Code and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) Bye Laws. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion." [1 p.84]. The report has no 'Other Matter' paragraph; its 'Other information' section ends 'We have nothing to report in this regard.' [1 p.90]. Under 'Report on other Legal and Regulatory Requirements' the auditor reports 'that except emphasis of matter:' the listed statutory confirmations [1 p.91]. DSE posted the emphasis-of-matter notice for 2025 on 2-Jun-2026 [8]. We found no company explanation or response to the emphasis-of-matter bullets in the annual report after searching the directors' report, the audit committee report and the notes [1 p.37] [1 p.55]; the audit committee report states that it reviewed 'the special audit report carried out by IDRA and management's response to it', without giving its contents [1 p.37].

What the auditor reports on premium. Within the premium-income key audit matter the auditor states that it 'noted a discrepancy between the amounts confirmed and the bank received from premium income as recorded in the company's cash flows. It was also noted that not all premium collections are received through banking channels.' [1 p.85]. The report does not give an amount for the discrepancy [1 p.85]. The claims key audit matter is printed with words from two columns run together ('This account represents the claim due or We tested the design...'); the table above reproduces it as printed [1 p.86].

SBC and other insurers. The amount due from 'Sadharan Bima Corporation & others insurance company' was Tk 754,885,246 at 31-Dec-2025, against Tk 771,446,434 at 31-Dec-2024, 80.7% of equity at 31-Dec-2025 [1 p.115] [18]. The note prints its total as '754,85,246' [1 p.115]. The amount due to SBC and other insurers was Tk 752,525,176 at 31-Dec-2025, against Tk 885,216,408 [1 p.112]. At 30-Jun-2026 the two balances were Tk 767.6m and Tk 756.3m [6 p.1]. No ageing of either balance is printed [1 p.112] [1 p.115].

Tax. The provision for income tax was Tk 138,304,368 at 31-Dec-2025, inside sundry creditors, against Tk 125,367,946 at 31-Dec-2024; no adjustment was made in either year [1 p.113]. Advance income tax was Tk 174,975,486 at 31-Dec-2025 (Tk 174,975,485 on the face of the statement), against Tk 142,649,765 [1 p.115] [1 p.93]. The note states that advance tax 'fall adjustable with the assesses tax liabilities subject to Complete to assesment or disposal of Cases under Tribunal and High Court' [1 p.115]. The 2025 tax charge was Tk 12.9m current [1 p.118] and Tk 1.2m deferred [1 p.119]. Other balance-sheet conflicts: note 29 prints 2024 total assets of Tk 2,491,744,015 against Tk 2,491,721,250 on the statement of financial position, and the directors' report prints 2025 'Profit before tax' of Tk 527,628,644 against Tk 85,095,102 in the statements [1 p.120] [1 p.93] [1 p.54] [1 p.94].

Leases, IFRS 17 and unclaimed dividends. The company recognised right-of-use assets of Tk 11.3m and lease liabilities of Tk 12.9m at 31-Dec-2025 [1 p.120]. On IFRS 17 the company states that 'The quantitative impact of this transition has not yet been fully determined and, therefore, has not been recognized in these financial statements' [1 p.110]. Unclaimed dividends were Tk 2.9m; the note states the company 'has partially complied with the requirement to transfer the unpaid dividend to CMSF Tk. 516,384 as at 30 April 2026' [1 p.113].

2026 to date: H1 profit before tax Tk 19.4m against Tk 34.3m; nine-month EPS Tk 0.54 against Tk 0.64 (DSE)

First half of 2026. Gross premium was Tk 183.3m in H1 2026, 2.0% higher than Tk 179.7m, and net premium Tk 104.3m against Tk 110.7m [6 p.2] [18]. Net claims were Tk 72.1m against Tk 60.4m, re-insurance commission earned Tk 14.2m against Tk 27.6m, and the single line 'Management Expenses and Commission' Tk 56.1m against Tk 73.1m [6 p.2]. Income from investment and other sources was Tk 29.2m against Tk 29.5m [6 p.2]. Profit before tax was Tk 19.4m against Tk 34.3m, and profit after tax Tk 19.1m against Tk 22.9m, EPS Tk 0.44 against Tk 0.53 [6 p.2] [6 p.5]. Net cash generated from operating activities was Tk 4.6m against Tk 5.2m [6 p.4]. On the half-year version of the house definition, with agency commission inside the combined management-expense line, the combined ratio was 109.4% against 95.7% [18].

DSE-announced quarters. EPS posted on DSE was Tk 0.42 for January-March 2025, Tk 0.11 for April-June 2025 and Tk 0.11 for July-September 2025, and the full-year 2025 figure was Tk 1.65; the derived fourth-quarter 2025 EPS is Tk 1.01 [8] [18]. For 2026 the posts give Tk 0.34 for January-March, Tk 0.10 for April-June and Tk 0.10 for July-September, Tk 0.54 for the nine months [8]. NAV per share was Tk 19.24 at 31-Dec-2024, Tk 19.59 at 31-Mar-2025, Tk 19.58 at 30-Jun-2025, Tk 17.74 at 30-Sep-2025, Tk 21.70 at 31-Dec-2025, Tk 22.22 at 31-Mar-2026, Tk 22.21 at 30-Jun-2026 and Tk 21.11 at 30-Sep-2026 [8]. Nine-month NOCFPS was Tk 0.07 in 2026 against Tk 0.05 in 2025 [8]. The Q3 2026 interim statements are not in the corpus at 1-Nov-2026; the Q3 figures come from DSE posts [8].

Governance: sponsors 31.43%, related-party insurance Tk 58.2m in 2025, 11 board meetings at 60% aggregate attendance, 10% cash dividend

Board. The board page lists a chairman (Abdul Haque), an adviser (M. Kamal Uddin), a vice-chairman (A. M. Ershad Chowdhury), committee chairs, ten further directors and the Managing Director & CEO, Firoz Ahmed [1 p.10]. DSE posted on 16-Sep-2025 that the board had elected Mr. Abdul Haque as chairman [8]. Three independent directors are named: Md. Salam Obaidul Karim, Hasan Uddin Sikder and Monjura Shehely [1 p.10] [1 p.27] [1 p.28]. The company's report to shareholders states that 'During the year ended December 31, 2025 the Board of Directors held 11 meetings and the Directors serving on the Board attended in aggregate 60% of the total number of meetings' [1 p.47]. The per-director attendance that the compliance checklist item 1(5)(xxii) marks as complied is not printed anywhere we found in the report [1 p.69] [1 p.55]. The corporate-governance compliance report states that the Head of Internal Audit and Compliance 'did not attend the Board of Directors' meetings as required' [1 p.72].

Committees. The audit committee report lists three members, Hasan Uddin Sikder (chairman), Shajjad Mustafa and Nurul Azim Sunny, and four meetings in 2025 [1 p.37]. The committees page states the audit committee 'is comprised with 03 (three) members of Board of directors including 02 (two) directors' and that 'The members of the Committee are as follow:', with no names printed after it [1 p.30]. The NRC activity report lists four members and two meetings in 2025 [1 p.41]; the committees page says 'The number of NRC meetings and attendance status during the year 2023 are as follows:' with no table printed [1 p.31]. The audit committee report states that it reviewed 'the special audit report carried out by IDRA and management's response to it', and that it 'emphasised& monitored for immediate execution of replacing the FDRs held with different Banks' [1 p.37] [1 p.38].

Related parties. Note 23 lists three related parties, each a 'Common Director', with 'Insurance' as the nature of transaction: Mr. Abdul Haque Tk 2,563,547, Nurul Azim Sunny Tk 24,045,924 and Mr. Md. Nabiullah Tk 31,614,348, total Tk 58,223,819 for 2025 [1 p.118]. The total is 14.0% of 2025 gross premium (derived) [18]. The H1 2026 note lists the same three names: Mr. Abdul Haque Tk 1,585,317, Nurul Azim Sunny Tk 14,928,200 and Mr. Md. Nabiullah Tk 6,248,395, total Tk 22,761,912 [6 p.5]. The board page spells the director 'Mohammad Nabi Ullah' [1 p.10]. Note 24 names the Managing Director as the key management personnel, with Tk 3,000,000 of short-term benefits in each of 2024 and 2025 (salary Tk 2,100,000, other allowance Tk 900,000) [1 p.119]. Directors' fees for attending meetings were Tk 1,909,600 against Tk 2,100,000 [1 p.119].

Ownership. At 31-Dec-2025 sponsors and sponsor directors held 13,545,273 shares (31.43%), the general public 15,661,884 (36.34%) and institutions 13,888,203 (32.23%) [1 p.111]. A year earlier the split was 34.48%, 33.06% and 32.46% [1 p.111]. The shareholding list includes Mahmood Rahman (287,302 shares, 0.67%), who is not on the board page [1 p.47] [1 p.10]. The directors' report quotes the BSEC notification of 21 May 2020 that 'Each director other than independent director of any listed company shall hold minimum 2% (two percent) shares of the paid-up capital' [1 p.54]. Senior management printed on the executives page: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Firoz Ahmed; ADDITIONAL MANAGING DIRECTOR Bazlur Rahman; DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR & COMPANY SECRETARY Abdur Rahman; DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR Md. Azim Uddin, Md. Rashedul Islam; DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR & CFO Md. Abdus Salam; ASSISTANT MANAGING DIRECTOR Md. Rashedur Rahman; EXECUTIVE VICE- PRESIDENT Md. Jabed Akhter, Md. Helal Uddin; SENIOR VICE- PRESIDENT Md. Imam Hossain Shikder; VICE- PRESIDENT Md. Ismail, Sarwar Alam, Abdul Bari Chowdhury, Md. Nurul Alam; DEPUTY VICE- PRESIDENT Hamidul Alam Chowdhury, Nayan Tara Saha, Md. Delwar Hossain, Giasuddin Mohammad Monsur, Rahim Hasan Turjo, Md. Ragib Abid, Nurul Afsher, Md. Abdur Rahim; ASST. VICE- PRESIDENT Md. Habibur Rahman Chowdhury, Farhana Habib, Md. Moniruzzaman Khan; SENIOR MANAGER Md. Kutub Uddin, Dewan Mofizur Rahman [1 p.33].

Dividends. The dividend history table shows cash dividends for every year from 2004 to 2008 and 2013 to 2024, and stock dividends of 10%, 12%, 10% and 12% for 2009 to 2012; the 2019 cash dividend was 7% and every other cash dividend 10% [1 p.59]. For 2025 the board in its 239th meeting on 30-Apr-2026 recommended 10% cash [1 p.109]. The record date was moved from 25-May-2026 to 1-Jun-2026 after 25 May was declared a public holiday, the AGM was held on 30-Jun-2026 on a digital platform, and DSE posted the disbursement on 30-Jul-2026 [8] [1 p.5]. Dividends of Tk 43.1m were 60.8% of 2025 profit after tax and 51.5% of 2024 profit after tax [18].

DSE news, 1-Nov-2024 to 1-Nov-2026. The archive holds 36 posts [8]. They include four annual and quarterly result sets, two dividend declarations and disbursements, two record-date suspensions, one record-date change, the 2025 emphasis-of-matter notice (2-Jun-2026), the election of the chairman (16-Sep-2025), credit ratings from Alpha Credit Rating (AA and ST-2, stable, 20-Oct-2025) and CRISL (AA and ST-2, stable, 11-Oct-2026), and a revision of the CRISL post on the same day 'excluding the short-term rating of "ST-2"' [8]. That revision is the one correction post; no post is titled a correction [8]. In response to a DSE query dated 12-Jul-2026 the company stated that 'there is no undisclosed price sensitive information'; by letter dated 27-Sep-2026 it stated that 'they do not know the reason for the unusual price hike' [8]. We found no board approval of capital expenditure, expansion, rights issue or acquisition in the 24 months [8].

What's next: dated events after 31-Oct-2026

These are dated events after 31-Oct-2026. We do not forecast numbers. Dates marked '(inferred)' are ranges built from every printed precedent we found; no date has been notified for them. The 2025 accounts were approved on 30-Apr-2026 and are not overdue [1 p.109]. The Q3 2026 results are already announced (DSE, 1-Nov-2026) and are covered in the recent-quarters section [8]. DSE notice dates are kept apart from meeting dates below. The 2019 annual report's note prints the FY2019 board meeting as 'April 30 2019' [4 p.89]; the FY2019 price-sensitive information gives 21.07.2020 [13 p.1], and the ranges use the price-sensitive dates.

Risks: each item and the line it relates to

Each row is a fact from the filings with the line it relates to; none is a forecast. The four emphasis-of-matter bullets do not modify the opinion; the opinion paragraph states that the statements 'present fairly, in all material respects' [1 p.84]. At 31-Dec-2024 the amount due to SBC and other insurers was Tk 885.22m and the amount due from them Tk 771.45m, with shareholders' equity of Tk 829.22m; at 31-Dec-2025 the figures were Tk 752.53m, Tk 754.89m and Tk 935.27m [1 p.93]. The 2025 fire claims and the 2024 fire claims together come to Tk 383.2m of net claims on the fire account, on fire net premium of Tk 135.1m over the two years [1 p.96] [18].

History 2017-2025 and market data

Figures for 2017-2020 come from the 2021 annual report's five-year table and for 2021-2025 from the 2025 report's table; 2021 appears in both tables with identical figures. The 2021 table prints 2019 net premium as Tk 191.01m and 2018 net premium as Tk 191.38m [2 p.35] [1 p.44]. The 2025 report's 'Investments & FDR' and 'Total Assets' lines are labelled in Tk million; its graph page prints 2021 total assets as 2,479.93 and 1,419.93 against 2,419.93 in the table [1 p.46] [1 p.44]. NAV per share as printed was Tk 18.03 (31-Dec-2017), Tk 17.93 (2018), Tk 18.27 (2019), Tk 19.05 (2020), Tk 20.38 (2021), Tk 20.78 (2022), Tk 19.75 (2023), Tk 19.24 (2024) and Tk 21.70 (31-Dec-2025) [2 p.35] [1 p.44].

The 52-week range uses DSE trading-day closes from 2-Nov-2025 to 1-Nov-2026: the lowest close was Tk 22.6 on 8-Mar-2026 and the highest Tk 53.8 on 27-Sep-2026, each on a single day in the window [7]. The close of Tk 42.8 on 1-Nov-2026 is 68.5% above the Tk 25.4 close of 30-Oct-2025 [18]. At that price the shares trade at 25.9 times 2025 EPS of Tk 1.65, 27.6 times the derived trailing EPS of Tk 1.55 (nine months of 2026 plus the fourth quarter of 2025) and 2.03 times NAV per share of Tk 21.11 at 30-Sep-2026; the 2025 cash dividend of Tk 1.00 is 2.3% of the price [18].

FAQ

What is Mercantile Islami Insurance's 2025 audit opinion?

Unmodified. Kazi Zahir Khan & Co. wrote that the statements 'present fairly, in all material respects', and added four emphasis-of-matter bullets: unconfirmed balances with Sadharan Bima Corporation and other insurers, FDRs with non-viable banks, unsettled tax assessments, and claims recognised on a settlement basis with commission remitted through branches. It also reported six key audit matters.

How profitable was Mercantile Islami Insurance in 2025?

Profit after tax was Tk 70.9m (EPS Tk 1.65) against Tk 83.6m (EPS Tk 1.94) in 2024. Underwriting profit was Tk 25.0m and non-operating income Tk 77.4m. Return on average equity was 8.0%.

What is Mercantile Islami Insurance's combined ratio?

110.7% in 2025 and 89.0% in 2024, measured as net claims plus management expenses plus agency commission less re-insurance commission, over net premium. The peer section applies the same definition to every peer.

What were the fire account figures in 2025?

Fire net claims were Tk 181.7m in 2025 on fire net premium of Tk 44.9m. Gross fire claims were Tk 232.7m and re-insurance recovery on fire Tk 1.3m. The filings do not name the events behind the claims.

How much does Mercantile Islami Insurance have due from SBC and other insurers?

Tk 754.9m at 31-Dec-2025 against Tk 771.4m a year earlier, 80.7% of equity; it owes them Tk 752.5m. The auditor states it received no confirmation of these balances; no ageing is printed.

What dividend did Mercantile Islami Insurance pay for 2025?

10% cash, Tk 1.00 a share, Tk 43.1m in total, 60.8% of 2025 profit after tax. The record date was 1-Jun-2026, the AGM was on 30-Jun-2026 and DSE posted the disbursement on 30-Jul-2026.

Who are the related parties?

Note 23 lists three common directors with insurance business in 2025: Mr. Abdul Haque Tk 2.56m, Nurul Azim Sunny Tk 24.05m and Mr. Md. Nabiullah Tk 31.61m, total Tk 58.22m, which is 14.0% of 2025 gross premium.

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