Executive Director / Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Babatunde Fajemirokun
BY NKECHI NAECHE-–‘AIICO Insurance PLC leading Nigerian indigenous underwriting company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday reported 42 percent increase in profit for half year financial result ended 2019.
L-R: Head, Strategic Marketing & Communications, AIICO Insurance Plc, Segun Olalandu; Divisional Head, Shared Services, Olusanjo Shodimu; Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, Babatunde Fajemirokun; Head, Corporate & Institutional Business, Adewale Kadri and Chief Fnancial Officer, Oladeji Oluwatola at the event.
According to the lead insurer the company’s Profit before tax (PBT) grew to N3.11 billion, when compared to N2.19 billion reported in H1 2018, while profit after tax (PAT) also grew by 52% to N2.94 billion as against N1.93 billion reported in H1 2018.
The group reported gross written premium of ₦25.4billion, up 32% from the same period in 2018 (H1 2018: N19.2billion).
This growth, according to the company is driven by continued solid performance across the major lines of business of the group: life and corporate & institutional businesses.
Commenting on the result, the Executive Director / Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Babatunde Fajemirokun said “this performance is a demonstration of a focused implementation of our renewed strategy, notwithstanding the challenging operating environment”.
Speaking further, he said, “customer-centric product innovations, sustained investments and automation of our agency salesforce continues to yield dynamic results as we recorded strong growth in our retail life business, which grew by 47% to N15.5billion (H1 2018: N10.6billion); and an increase of 14% in our corporate and institutional business to N9.5billion (H1 2018: N8.2billion).
Within the period under review, the group’s balance sheet improved with total assets growing by 24% to N135 billion compared to N109 billion in Dec 2018.
Also, the growth in shareholders’ funds, rose by 14% to N16.6 billion (Dec 2018: N14.5 billion).
On the new capital requirements for the insurance industry, Fajemirokun said “AIICO has put adequate strategies in place that will ensure we not only meet the new capital requirement for a composite underwriter but also surpass same with sufficient solvency margins”.
“Going into the second half of the year, we remain committed to the execution of our strategic objectives whilst staying focused on our primary purpose of protecting our customers and delivering superior returns to shareholders. As we look to the future, we remain guided by our mandate to provide shared protection to every family and business, so they can live life with confidence amidst uncertainty.”
