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Royal Exchange posts N8.43 billion half year premium

By Lucky Orioha
22 August 2016   |   2:49 am
The company said, net premium income for the period amounted to N4.34 billion, with a modest growth of 5 per cent over that of half year 2015, which stood at N4.12 billion.
Alhaji Auwalu Muktari, New Royal Exchange, MD

Alhaji Auwalu Muktari, New Royal Exchange, MD

Royal Exchange Plc, Nigeria’s premier insurance and financial services group, has posted a gross written premium of N8.43 billion in its first-half of the 2016 financial year, representing 34 per cent increase compared to N6.28 billion achieved in the corresponding period of 2015.

Also, gross premium income also witnessed 17 per cent increase over the previous year, with the 2016 figure standing at N6.46 billion when compared with N5.50 billion generated in the previous period year.

The company said, net premium income for the period amounted to N4.34 billion, with a modest growth of 5 per cent over that of half year 2015, which stood at N4.12 billion. Total Net Claims paid for the period under review amounted to N1.95 billion, an increase of 42 per cent from half year 2015, which was N1.37 billion.

The Group Managing Director of the company, Alhaji Auwalu Muktari, noted that, the half year results on the top-line items witnessed significant growth. This, he said, showed that Royal Exchange as an insurance group, is focusing on its growth objectives set out at the beginning of the year, by participating in large-ticket financial transactions, as well as playing in the retail insurance market.

According to him, “despite the very harsh operating environment being witnessed in the Nigerian economy today, we are greatly optimistic that by focusing our efforts on aggressive sales of our various product and service offerings, increasing our presence and participation in the retail sales space, reducing our operating costs profile and embarking on various expense optimisation strategies, we will be able to surpass our financial targets set for ourselves at the beginning of the year.”

One of the key growth strategies for Royal Exchange Plc, according to Muktari, is the proposed listing of a N3 billion bonds on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

He stated that in line with the on-going reforms being undertaken by the regulator, NAICOM, there is a need to secure fresh capital to enable the company to take advantage of the coming opportunities that will arise in the course of the reforms taking place.

He added that “Royal Exchange, will in the years to come, continue to be an aggressive player in the retail market in Nigeria and will be looking at different strategies to increase its product offering and visibility in the marketplace, while not losing track of the corporate market, where the returns and margins, are dwindling”.

In recognition of the efforts being undertaken to reposition the company, Royal Exchange Plc recently won two awards from BusinessToday Online as the Insurance Company of the Year, 2015 and CSR Company of the Year, as well as the Insurance and Pension Online CSR Company of the Year, 2015.

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