Daniel Braie, MD/CEO, Linkage Assurance Plc
BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR–Linkage Assurance Plc, an active player in the general insurance business in Nigeria said it was able to grow its underwriting profit by 27% to N374 million for the third (Q3) ended 30 September 2020.
This was made known by the company when it released its unaudited financial statements for the period ended 30 September 2020 on the floor of Nigerian Stock Exchange to dealing members and investing public that profit before tax (PBT) stood at N1.53 billion as at September 2020 against N867million in the prior period.
This the company said was driven by increase in net premium income, reduction in net claims expenses and investment income.
The company’s gross premium written also rose by 29% to N6.9 billion in Q3 of 2020 from N5.4 billion in same period of September 2019.
The company said it will continue to refine its strategy in line with the political, economic, sociological and technological changes in the industry particularly the impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the business landscape.
“We will also continue to develop innovative products, alternative channels of distributions and strategic initiatives that will enable us achieve our corporate goals and objectives. With a medium-to-long term perspective, we believe that we will benefit from growth in these initiatives,” the company said.
On retail products, the company said it had “developed and launched a number of retail products. These include the Linkage Third Party Plus, which is a budget friendly motor insurance that provides not only the compulsory Third party protection but an additional Own damage protection to the tune of N250,000. This product is only available from our Company, Linkage Assurance Plc. Others are the Linkage SME Comprehensive, Citadel Shield (which provides compensation as a result of injuries from accident for pupils and students in recognized academic establishments). Linkage Events Xclusive Insurance, Linkage Shop Insurance, Purple Motor Plan (comprehensive motor cover exclusively for women), and the Linkage Estate Insurance. We are also making efforts to deploy our online portal to make our products and services available to our customers especially the digital savvy customers and enterprises.”
Speaking further on its operational efficiency: “We will consolidate on the going initiatives to improve our operational efficiency so as to reduce the cost of doing business, improve business processes, eliminate wastages and achieve higher margins in our core business.”