Ebere Nwoji
Guinea Insurance Plc grew its shareholders’ fund by 16 per cent to N3.4 billion in 2017 compared with the N2.9 billion recorded in 2016.
A statement by the Head, Corporate Communications department of the firm, Ufot Hanson, said Gross Premium Written rose seven per cent from N906.7 million in 2016 to N967.1 in 2017.
According to him, Net Premium Income of the company also grew by 15 per cent from N649.5 million in 2016 to N747.1 in 2017. Underwriting profit grew from N453.4 million in 2016 to N501.1 in 2017 representing a growth rate of 11 per cent.
Claims paid by Guinea Insurance on various classes of insurance decreased by 47 per cent from N304.9 million in 2016 to N161.5 million in 2017.
He attributed this to operational efficiency of the company in terms of people, processes, technology and communications.
He observed that the period under review was characterised by the shooting match of the Monetary Policy Committee which held interest rate at a record high of 14 per cent while the Central Bank kept the monetary policy rate unchanged since July 2016 with the aim of balancing the need to fight inflation and also stabilising the naira in order to support an economy emerging from its worst slump in 25 years.
He said in spite of these, the Guinea Insurance Income recorded a marginal decline of three per cent from N215.5 in 2016 to N208.3 in 2017. The company however made a remarkable performance as it achieved 35 percent increase in its Profit Before Tax from N176.3 million in 2016 to N237.8 million in 2017.
Similarly, its profit after tax increased by 518 per cent from N40.6 million in 2016 to N251.0 million in 2017.
According to Ufot, Solvency Margin of the company, grew by 13 per cent from N3.0 billion in 2016 to N3.4 billion in 2017, just as its Shareholders’ Fund recorded 16 percent increase from N2.9 billion in 2016 to N3.4 billion in 2017.
The company’s management in a statement, pledge to return the company on the path of profitability reaffirming its commitment to continuously deliver values that will positively affect the lives of its stakeholders and leverage best practices.
