PETALING JAYA (May 22): Tune Protect Group Bhd expects to maintain single digit growth in gross written premiums (GWP) for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2017 (FY17) as it faces "short-term pains" going forward.

In FY16, Tune Protect Group recorded a growth of 5.7% in GWP to RM501 million.

The group's travel protection business in Malaysia had been impacted towards end-2016 by the Malaysian Aviation Authority's new requirement for airlines to provide an "Opt-in" facility for travellers wishing to purchase ancillary products and services, including travel insurance.

However, Tune Protect Group has embarked on several digital transformation initiatives to offset the impact of such industry challenges.

For instance, it today announced its collaboration with AirAsia Bhd, whereby it will leverage on the latter's technology and full-fledged data in its move to digitalise insurance and improve customer experience.

"I believe we will have some short-term pains, but with this collaboration with AirAsia, we are going to get the initiatives which we planned last year fully on board this year," its chief executive officer Razman Hafidz Abu Zarim told reporters after its annual general meeting (AGM) today.

"We're still hopeful for this year...we probably won't post double-digit growth but 2018 onwards, we hope to get back to where we were," Razman said.

At noon break, Tune Protect Group's share price rose 6.4% to RM1.50, for a market value of RM1.08 billion.