L-R: Polycarp Didam, Managing Director Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc; Ibrahim Kashim, Director of the company and Olalekan Oyinlade, ED Operations of the company at the official unveiling of the new name, logo and color of the company held in Abuja.
BY NKECHI NAECHE—-
With capital base in excess of N10billion, VeritasKapital Assurance Plc said is committed to the satisfaction of its customers and ensuring prompt service delivery across all its branches in Nigeria.
Managing Director/CEO Polycarp Didam disclosed this at the official unveiling of the Company’s new name and logo that delivering consistent and reliable levels of customer service and acting with integrity, due care and diligence is its priority.
According to him the new VeritasKapital is ready to listen to
its customers and
handle complaints fairly and promptly.
Speaking on strategy the company wants to apply to grow the market and be among top five firms in the industry he said: “Our objective is to generate sustainable value for ourshareholders through a relentless focus on meeting the needs of our customers, and a proactive but disciplined approach to investing in the most profitable growth opportunities.
“Veritas Kapital Assurance is poised to have leading market positions in many of our chosen segments. This will be achieved in part, through our strong track record of delivering to our customer’s innovative and quality solutions as well as underwriting and claims expertise.
“We have implemented an operational improvement programme to enhance operational efficiency, controls and the customer experience and are well positioned in our chosen market segments, with all core businesses showing strong potential returns.
On how he intend to deepen insurance penetration in the country, he said they intend to expand in due course to the provision of products in Life Assurance, Health Management and other areas.
In terms of branch network, he said “we have 14 branches and our client base in terms of individual customers is in excess of 1,000, but if you are talking of corporate clients, we have in excess of 500,’’
He assured that all branches have been equipped to handle all type of business and in turn deliver prompt and efficient service to its customers just like the head office.
It would be recalled that Veritas Capital Limited, the new majority core investor in Unity Kapital Assurance Plc, changed the name of the company to Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc to reflect the new ownership and divestiture of Unity Bank Plc from the insurance company.
In a regulatory filing at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the directors of the insurance company stated that the new name was sequel to the completion of the divestment of Unity Bank from the insurance company. The report noted that shareholders had approved the change at the annual general meeting in September 2017.
Veritas Capital had acquired the 50.3 per cent majority equity stake of Unity Bank Plc in UnityKapital Assurance. Following Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s banking regulatory regime that required banks to either divest from non-core banking subsidiaries or form a holding company to hold those subsidiaries, Unity Bank had opted to divest from its non-core banking businesses including UnityKapital Assurance.
Veritas Capital and Unity Bank had in 2016 executed a Share Sale and Purchase Agreement (SSPA) detailing the terms and conditions of the acquisition of 50.3 per cent equity stake in UnityKapital Assurance. In March 2016, a total of 4.16 billion shares of Unity Kapital Assurance were swapped in a cross deal at 77 kobo per share at the NSE to Veritas Capital. This represented the first tranche of 30 per cent equity stake in Unity Kapital Assurance.
UnityKapital Assurance had emerged in 2007 following the merger of three insurance companies with similar values. The merger followed the requirements of Insurance Regulation of September 2005 which required insurance companies to recapitalize to the level of N3 billion for non-life companies and N2 billion for life companies.
