WAPIC Insurance Plc said its Gross Written Premium (GWP) in its audited financial results for the period ended 31 December 2019, increased by nine per cent to N15.2 billion, compared to same period in 2018.
The insurer’s which disclosed this in its full year results posted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), stated that the GWP was buoyed by its enhanced underwriting capabilities.
The results showed that Wapic paid N4.1 billion in gross claims in 2019, stating that the gross claims to GWP ratio closed at 27 per cent. This was a reduction when compared with the 36 per cent recorded in 2018.
The Group’s underwriting profit grew to N2.9 billion, a 36 per cent year-on-year growth from the N2.1 billion recorded in the preceding period of 2018. The growth in premiums and decrease in net claims expense during the review period had a positive impact on this position, it stated.
The Group, however, recorded an 87 per cent decline in profit before tax to close at N24 million.
“The drop in investment and other income, and the growth in underwriting and operating expenses for the period negatively affected the bottom-line position,” it explained.
But its subsidiary, Wapic Life Assurance Limited recorded a 52 per cent year-on-year increase in GWP to N3 billion, from N1.97 billion in the prior year. Its gross claims paid increased slightly by two per cent to N1.27 billion for the period ended December 2019, compared to N1.25 billion in the corresponding period of 2018.
Its underwriting profit had an impressive growth of 150 per cent from the prior year’s position of N330 million to N825 million in 2018, while its profit before tax climbed to N267 million, a commendable 943 per cent from the 2018 position of N25 million.
In addition, another of its subsidiary, Wapic Insurance (Ghana) Limited’s gross premium income decreased slightly year on year by five per cent to N1.41 billion in 2019, from the N1.48 billion recorded in the prior year.
Commenting on the results, Managing Director WAPIC Insurance, Yinka Adekoya, said: “Wapic delivered a commendable performance in the financial year 2019 despite a sluggish macroeconomic and business landscape which didn’t pick up until the latter part of the year. With a combination of an intensified underwriting capacity expansion, and the focused execution of our business plans, the Group’s GWP for the period grew by nine per cent year-on-year to close at N15.2 billion surpassing the average Nigerian insurance market growth rate.
“Positive improvements were recorded in the Group’s underwriting profit position for the period, which grew to N2.9 billion, a commendable 37 per cent year-on-year growth from the N2.1 billion recorded in the preceding period of 2018.
“The Group also recorded a profit before tax of N23.4 million from N187 million and a profit after tax of N214 million from N315 million recorded in the previous year. Our total assets grew by 1.3 per cent to N30.7 billion from N30.4 billion in 2018. Our shareholders’ funds stood at 18.5 billion for the period from N17.1 billion in 2018.”
Adekoya, described 2019 as a challenging year for the company because of the marginal growth in GWP, adding that the disciplined execution of the company’s transformation projects and growth strategies were expected to start yielding the desired results this year.
