Daniel Braie, MD/CEO Linkage Assurance Plc
BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR-Linkage Assurance Plc, at the weekend said it hopes to grow its profit for the fourth quarter(Q4) ending 31 December, 2020 to N73.063 million.
This is contained in a notice of its earnings forecast to the Nigerians Stick Exchange (NSE) that gross premium written is projected to grow to N871.767 million for the Q4, 2020.
The insurer also forecast improvement in cash/bank balance at the end of the period to N1.627 billion from N1.609 billion at the beginning of the period.
The insurer while presenting its audited financial statements for the year ended 31, December, 2019 during its virtual AGM held in August said it recorded an improvement over 2018 with a Gross Premium Written (GPW) of N6.52 billion from N5.39billion in December 2018, a 21 percent increase, while profit before tax (PBT) also increased from N134.70 million in 2018 to N1.34billion, representing an 894 percent increase.
The Company also achieved an underwriting profit of N409 million in 2019, compared to the N772 million losses in 2018, while net claims paid was N1.7 billion compared to N2.7 billion.
The significant reduction in net claims, the company said it was a result of improved underwriting and effective reinsurance arrangement.”
The general business underwriter currently has total assets in assets of N28.7 billion at the end of 2019 financial year.
Following its tremendous achievements the company rewarded its shareholders with a bonus issue of one for four shares by the capitalisation of N1 billion from the Company’s general reserve account.
Meanwhile, Agusto & Co had recently affirmed the Company A- status and this confirms on the Company’s satisfactory financial condition and adequate capacity to meet claims obligation as well as a stable outlook.
