Regency Alliance Insurance records N470.5m profit, pays 3k dividend

Despite challenges witnessed in the course of operations in the 2016 financial year, Regency Alliance Insurance Plc has declared as an after-tax-profit of N470.594million.

This margin, according to the company record, was a clear 41.18% increment, compared to its N333.931million profit made the previous year.

The Acting Chairman of the company, Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, said in view of its profitable run under the year in review, the management of the organization had approved the sum of 3k dividend per 50k share for its eligible shareholders.

According to him, as a way of appreciating the shareholders, the board is recommending a total dividend payout of 200,062,500 representing 3k per 50k share for eligible shareholders.

Kingibe attributed the fundamental challenges to economic variables, saying: “lower foreign exchange inflows occasioned by both lower prices and reduced crude oil production, tight capital controls and currency volatility combined to make 2016 the most challenging year economically for Nigeria since 1999.

“There was heavy pressure on the value of the naira, resulting in an increased widening of the gap between the official interbank rate and the parallel ‘street’ rate. The introduction of the managed floating of the Naira in June 2016 by the Central Bank of Nigeria could not stem the tide. Various rates were applied for different segments of the economy and many foreign operators found it difficult to repatriate their earnings and fees”.

Notwithstanding the hindrances, the company’s acting Chairman said the company’s performance modestly improved during the 2016 financial year, noting that the gross premium written decreased by 6.86%, from N3.329billion to N3.101billion, while the underwriting profit also decreased by N110.605milliom from N1.229billion to N1.119billion.

He submitted that, during the year, the company had a net claim expense of N3.44.726million, showing a decrease of NN82.641million or 19.34%, compared with the figure for the previous year.

With 4072 individuals yet to claim their dividends in the last few years, amounting to a total sum of N7.3million, the duo of Shehu Mallam Mikail, the National President of Constance Shareholders’ Association of Nigeria and Mrs. Christie Vincent-Uwalaka, a member of the Independent Shareholders’ Association of Nigeria, representing the teeming shareholders of the company, insisted there was much more to do by the management of Regency Alliance Insurance on prudency and corporate governance.

But in his remarks, the company’s Group Managing Director, Otegbeye, allayed their fears, saying his organization was committed to upholding the principle of corporate governance and international best practices.

According to him, “our business is purely about venturing into financial risk. The business of insurance is basically about that. You win some and you lose some. In the last three years in the country, a lot of money has been lost; either in capital market or on other investment. But at Regency Alliance Insurance Plc, we have been working so tenaciously to dispel this and this is evident in our declaration of profit under the year in review.”