Retail business Key to huge insurance penetration, Mutual Benefit

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

For insurance industry to experience huge penertration, the sector needs to intensifies its retail business

The Management of Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc stated this when the executive members of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) paid the company a courtesy in Lagos yesterday.

The managing director/CEO, Femi Asenuga, noted that the insurance penetration rate is still an eyesore when compared to the huge population of the country, believing that, it is high time underwriters begin to focus more on grassroots through retail insurance businesses.

He stated that, a huge underbanked and unbanked Nigerians exist in the informal sector of which insurance firms can leverage to bring them into the financial service space.

To this end, he said, this has been the ultimate goal of Mutual Benefits right from inception, a development that has made the firm a reference point for investors and stakeholders in the area of micro insurance.

According to him, “We are restless when it comes to insuring the underserved and unserved Nigerians with financial solutions in the area of risk business in the country”

“We have become a reference point in retail business in the country and we are a reference point for investors.”

On product development, he said: “we are restless when it comes to product development. Years ago, we got approval for 36 products; this has never been done by any company in Nigeria.”

He assured that the company is not tired because there are still much to be covered.

He urged the media to keep the good work of deepening insurance awareness and sensitisation through informed and qualitative reporting, promising that, the firm was ready to assist the association in this regards.

Similarly, the managing director/CEO, Mutual Benefits Life Assurance Limited, Mr. Ademola Ifagbayi, promised that the underwriting firm will continue to piortise its claims obligations, stating that, the firm had paid several billions of naira in claims in recent years, which was a testament of its fidelity.

He called on Nigerians to patronise the firm for their insurance business, even as the company had invested in technology to continue to serve customers better and wherever they are.

Earlier, the chairman, NAIPCO, Mr. Chuks Udo Okonta, had reeled out the plans of the association to the management, which includes; the bi-annual NAIPCO Journal, Annual National Conference, Product Profiling, Advert to News Initiative, among others.

He said all these initiatives were tilted towards raising insurance awareness, calling for support of the assurance firms on these initiatives.

National Insurance and Pension Correspondents, NAIPCO president, Mr Chuks Okonta greeting the team of Mutual Benefit Assurance led their MD, Mr. Femi Asenuga, who welcome NAIPCO executives to the company
Royal Exchange, CHI, Mutual Benefit, Linkage, Regency shine at NSE half year results of performing stocks

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

The Nigeria Exchange Group Limited (NGX) started 2021 on a good note as the last trading day of 2020 earned the local bourse a warm ovation by reflecting over 50 percent growth year–to–date.

Although the NGX began the year with an air of optimism, its performance has been beset by a number of macroeconomic factors that have influenced the investment decisions of retail and institutional investors and affected local and foreign direct investments.

In the first half of the year 2021, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock market declined by 7.87 percent from 41,147.39 to 37,907.28 points.

Despite the negative movement, 54 of the 168 companies listed on the exchange appreciated with the top 10 stocks gaining no less than 61 percent year-to-date. It is worthy of note that most of the stocks on the list of the best-performing stocks are insurance companies and none are banks.

The best-performing stocks for the first half of the year 2021 are as follows:

Royal Exchange Plc

Royal Exchange Plc recorded a year-to-date increase of 134.62 percent in its share price, from N0.26 at the start of the year to N0.61. The financial services company in Q4 2020, realized a 7 percent increase in income and 112% growth in Profit after Tax.
Royal Exchange Plc is the only financial services company that ranked amongst the top 10 best-performing stocks in the half-year 2021. The company is engaged in providing life, healthcare and general insurance, financing, asset management, trusteeship and microfinance banking services.

Regency Assurance Plc

Regency Assurance Plc engages in the provision of general insurance cover to corporate and individual clients.

In Q1 2021, the company recorded an impressive increase in Net Profit of 95.79 percent. As a result, earnings per share went up by 95.73 percent from N3.28 to N6.42. The company share price grew by 109.09% from N0.22 to N0.46 year-to-date.

Consolidated Hallmark Insurance (CHI Plc

Consolidated Hallmark Insurance (CHI Plc) in its recently released unaudited financials for the first quarter (Q1) ended 31 March 2021 recorded a 30 percent growth in its Profit-Before-Tax (PBT), from the N346 million recorded as at the Quarter Ended 31st December 2020 to N449 million during the period ended 31st March 2021.

A review of the key financial metrics including Gross Premium Income, Assets, Investment Income, amongst others, highlights the firm’s commitment to delivering sustainable returns to its shareholders despite the harsh operating environment at the macroeconomic level.

Details of the result show that the Group, comprised of General Insurance, Micro Insurance (Life), Health Management, and Financing Company business delivered a Gross Premium of N3.229 billion representing a 15 percent growth when compared with the N2.805 billion reported in 2020. The underwriting profit recorded in the period is N918 million, an improvement of 16 percent when compared with the N789 million recorded in the previous quarter of 2020.

In the same vein, the Investment Income grew to N285 million from the N224 million recorded in Q1 2020, which represents a growth of 27 percent. The Group’s Total Assets also grew to N15.17 billion, up 6 percent when compared to N14.31 billion opening balance.

Mutual Benefit Assurance plc

Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc said it has recorded a seven per cent growth in its gross premium written to N19.98 billion in 2020 from N18.69 billion recorded in 2019.

According to a statement by the firm’s Head, Corporate Communication, Ellen Offo, the company’s 2020 audited results released on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), showed that profit after tax rose by 41 per cent from N3.61 billion in 2019 to N5.10 billion in 2020 while profits before tax stood at N5.04 billion, representing a 34 per cent increase from N3.75 billion in 2019.

The company also recorded a 74 per cent growth in shareholders’ funds which rose to N23.35 billion from the N13.43 billion of 2019. Total Assets also grew by 22 per cent from N67.78 billion in the previous year to N82.87 billion in the year under review.

Insurance contract liabilities for the year under review stood at N17.57 billion, a 25 percent increase from the previous year’s N14.10 billion.

The combined claims paid by Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc. and it’s subsidiary; Mutual Benefits Life Assurance was N19.37 billion representing an eight per cent decrease on the claims paid last year.

A breakdown of the claims profile for 2020 reveals that the Life business paid a total of N3.54 billion in Group Life claims, Maturity claims accounted for N7.76 billion while for Credit Life claims were N140 million. Other Claims paid include individual death claims, annuity claims, surrender claims and partial withdrawal claims at N213 million, N44 million, N3.65 billion and N870 million respectively.

Linkage Assurance plc

The write could lay hand on the company half years result.

Linkage Assurance in its full year 2020 financial results recorded gross written premium of N8.3 billion, an increase of 28 per cent year-on-year from N6.5 billion in 2019, while total assets also rose by 18 per cent year-on-year in 2020, to N33.9 billion, compared to N28.7 billion in 2019
The company also witnessed significant improvement in other indices, with underwriting profit growing by 102 per cent, from N0.4 billion in 2019, to N0.8 billion at the end of 2020. Similarly, its profit before tax during the period under review was N2.5 billion, compared to N1.3 billion in 2019. This represented an 89 per cent year-on-year growth, while profit after tax was N2.4 billion, increasing by 65 per cent from N1.5 billion in 2019.

 

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Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, has recorded an increase in gross premium written for year ended December 31, 2020 to N20.194 billion from N18.698 billion in 2019.

In the same vein, the company’s gross written premium for Q4 2020 rose tonN5.378 billion from N4.944 billion recorded in the corresponding period of (Q4 ) 2019.

While profit after tax rose by 104.5 percent to N2.155 billion in Q4 from N1.054 billion in 2019, it rose lower by 25.9 percent to N4.548 billion in full year from N3.612 billion in 2019

The company planned to meet the recapitalisation through a sum of N4.8billion through private placement

At the company’s Extra Ordinary General Meeting held last December, its Board of Directors secured the approval of its shareholders to  sell 8,888,888,889 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at 54 kobo per share.

Among the shareholders that have indicated interest to take up the private placements are Charles Enterprises and Arubiewe Farms Limited.

Chairman of the firm, Akin Ogunbiyi, said given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world economies and the negative investors’ sentiments in the stock market, the company has decided to raise more capital required by way of private placement of its shares to some substantial investors who have indicated their readiness to commit further investment into the company to meet the new minimum regulatory capital.

Managing Director of Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Femi Asenuga assured shareholders that the company would reward shareholders for their support and patronage in the new year.