Ebere Nwoji
Chairman of Guinea Insurance plc, Mr. Godson Ugochukwu, has assured shareholders of the company of continued commitment of the board and management to positioning the company to be an attractive investment destination.
He also assured them of the company’s unwavering dedication to charting a course towards profitability.
Ugochukwu gave the assurance at the 65th Annual General Meeting of the company held in Lagos.
Reflecting on the financial performance of the company in the year 2022, he said it revealed promising trends for Guinea Insurance.
According to him, the company during the year achieved a modest increase in Gross Premium Written, rising to N1.359 billion, representing a 0.22 percent improvement over the preceding year. He said Gross Premium Income equally exhibited growth, from N1.34 billion in 2021 to N1.39 billion in 2022, showing 3.73 percent increase. Net Premium Income also showed substantial expansion, standing at N960 million in 2022, with 9.18 percent increase compared to the N879 million reported in 2021.
Ugochukwu said the achievements could be attributed to the company’s strategic expansion into new markets, coupled with enhanced underwriting and risk management practices.
He said the company during the year under review toed an efficient claims settlement path as evidenced by a remarkable 194.63 percent increase in Claims Expenses in 2022.
He said Guinea Insurance’s strategic expansion initiatives resulted in substantial upfront expenses, including increased operating costs, capital investments, and research and development expenditures.
“These investments had a temporary impact on the company’s financial performance, resulting in a notable increase in Loss After Tax, which rose from N23.4 million in 2021 to N64.7 million in 2022, marking a remarkable surge of 176.50 percent.
He said Income Tax Expense in 2022 witnessed a significant reduction of 78.40 percent decreasing to N7.9 million from the N36.5 million recorded in 2021, owing to the effective tax planning strategies implemented by the company.
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of Guinea Insurance, Ademola Abidogun, informed that the company had listed 1,802,800,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at 50 Kobo per share on the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
He said the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Guinea Insurance has increased from 6,140,000,000 to 7,942,800,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.
