L-R: Mr. Ganiyu Musa, GMD/CEO; Mrs. Chidinma Onwubere, Company Secretary; & Chairman of the Board, Mr. Segun Adebanji at Cornerstone Insurance PLC, 29th Annual General Meeting held recently in Lagos.
BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR–Cornerstone Insurance Plc and its subsidiaries at the end of the financial year ended 31st December, 2020 grow it’s Gross Premium Written by 34 percent.
Speaking at the company’s 29th Annual General Meeting ( AGM) held in Lagos yesterday, the chairman of the company, Mr. Segun Adebanji, noted that the gross premium written rose from N13.05 billion in the financial year of 2019 to N17.53billion in 2020.
He added that premium from life insurance accounts for 31 percent of gross premium written, noting that premium from life grew to N5.54 billion in 2020 from N3.84billon.
He further said that the largest contributors to general business gross premium written were oil, gas & Aviation; engineering and motor classes, which contributed N3.53billion; oil & gas, aviation N2.86 billion and motor N1.52 billion respectively.
The Insurer’s investment portfolio and treasury activities contributed N3.73 billion to overall revenue reported in 2020. This the company said was driven by the effect of changes in foreign exchange rates and also from sales of foreign currency denomination assets during the year under review.
The Insurer’s gross ratio grew also by 42% and has been stable year on year.
However non life gross claims incurred increased by 62% while gross claims from fire class appreciated by 85% to N1.51 billion in 2020 when compared with N816million paid in 2019.
The chairman also noted that cost of running the business in 2020 dropped slightly by seven percent, this he attributed to the execution of remote working protocol and other measures to safeguard the welfare of staffs by management.
Following it’s impressive performance the Insurer ended the year with a profit before tax of N1.76billion.
On future expectations, he said ” while 2021 may not be a year for expansion, it is a year in which we are discovering new strengths and capabilities as the world embraces new
ways of working and communicating through technology. Your board therefore anticipates new opportunities for the insurance industry
and for Cornerstone as we venture into this new normal.”