CHI assures shareholders of good returns through strategic initiative

Consolidated Hallmark Insurance (CHI) Plc, has reiterated its commitment to deliver good returns on investment to shareholders through various capacity expansion and growth initiatives.

Some of the initiatives include: establishment of new subsidiaries such as its Health Management Organisation (HMO), to focus on identified growth markets; launching of a revamped website with retail customer and broker interface; reinvigoration of the retail network; and deployment of latest technology will help to further grow revenue.

The underwriter has therefore urged discerning investors to take position on its stock at a bargain price now, rather than selling a valuable stake that has consistently given them good returns through growth in assets and dividend payments over the years.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, CHI, Eddie Efekoha, reassured that strategies have been put in place to improve the bottom-line, and also cutting management expenses.

The intrinsic book value of CHI stock is presently over 70kobo, and with its current liquidity levels in the market, more players are expected to gear up to take position, while expecting an upside in price especially against the backdrop of the expected 2017 year end financials.

Besides, an analysis of its financials show strong positive fundamentals, which reinforces shareholders’ confidence in the company, as reaffirmed during the first phase of its capital raising exercise. About N500million was offered in the form of one new share for every six held by existing shareholders in a 1,000,000,000 units rights issue, which was oversubscribed.

An analysis of the deals on the trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the past few weeks indicates improved activities on the shares, with increasing transaction volumes.
However, only 32 million units (a paltry one per cent) out of the seven billion shares outstanding have been made available for purchase on the floor of the Exchange, showing a low unwillingness by investors to sell off their stock.

Firstly, the company is trading at a 12-month price to earnings (PE) ratio of 8.9X, price to book ratio of 0.39x and a dividend yield of 6.9%. In addition, the company’s 9-month financials as at 2017 shows a profitable insurance business, with an underwriting profit of NGN836million and retained earnings of N114 million.

The company has also grown its total Assets value to N8.14bn from N4.65bn in 2007. CHI is one of the few insurance businesses that delivers value to its shareholders in the Nigerian insurance market.