Mr. Segun Balogun, MD/CEO LASACO Assurance Plc
BY NKECHI NAECHE—-The management of LASACO Assurance Plc, has assured shareholders that it will remain committed to guaranteed improved dividend payment year-on-year.
The Managing Director/ CEO, Segun Balogun disclosed this in exclusive interview with BusinessToday Online that the new board policy states that all shareholders must get their dividend at when due; tax must be paid to government and improved welfare packages for employees.
On how this will be achieved, the LASACO Assurance boss said, the new board led by Mrs. Aderinola Disu has put strategies in place to increase its premium and profits, adding that some of the strategies will definitely tranform its business in 2018.
On claims payment, he said: ” Our policy in LASACO Assurance remains that claims must be paid within 72 hours after receiving the discharge vouchers. This is part of our key performance indicators of our staffs in charge of claims and what we use to rate their performance.
He also noted that the company is growing capability in the area of agric business because that’s the next line of growth in Nigeria and Africa in general.
He said that due to the importance of Agriculture in Nigeria and Africa the company has trained its staff within and outside Nigeria to drive the agric business.
The financial performance shows the company in 2017 premium income grew by 10 percent from N6.04 billion achieved in 2016 to N6.67billion in 2017, while net premium income grew by 105% from N1.4billion in 2016 to N3.6billion in 2017
Underwriting profit was not left out as it rose from N234million in 2016 to N1.25billion in 2017, indicating s growth of 394 percent.
Despite the inflation rate of over 28 percent, the Company achieved a reduction of 19 percent in operating cost.
Shareholder’s fund increased by N304million from ₦7.85billion in 2017 to ₦8.156billion in same period of 2017.
LASACO Assurance had in March 2018 received the ISO 9001:2015 from the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, the representative of the International Organisation for Standardisation in Nigeria.
The insurance company, one of first to receive the certification of the earlier NIS ISO 9001:2008 in the country, said it was found worthy of the coveted rating because of its quality management system and priority for customer satisfaction.
LASACO, said the certification was in line with the company’s goal of delivering high quality services which had over the years endeared it to the public, making it a key player in the dynamic insurance sector of the country’s economy.
The achievement, according to the company “aligned with the company’s vision of leveraging our compliance and quality of service across all of our markets to provide our clients with the highest quality of service possible. As we continue to foster a commitment to client satisfaction, we are very proud of this achievement, which underscores our drive for excellence.”
