Underwriter pays N19.37bn claims

Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc said it achieved a gross premium of N19.98 billion, a seven per cent increase from N18.69 billion recorded in 2019.

The firm’s Head, Corporate Communications, Mrs. Ellen Offo, at the weekend, told The Guardian, that the results released showed that profit after tax rose by 41 per cent from N3.61 billion in 2019 to N5.10 billion while profits before tax stood at N5.04 billion, representing a 34 per cent increase from N3.75 billion in 2019.

The group also recorded a 74 per cent growth in shareholders’ funds, which rose to N23.35 billion from the N13.43 billion attained in 2019. Total assets also grew by 22 per cent from N67.78 billion in the previous year to N82.87 billion.

Insurance contract liabilities for the year under review stood at N17.57 billion, a 25 per cent increase from the previous year’s N14.10 billion.

The combined claims paid by Mutual Benefits Assurance and its subsidiary, Mutual Benefits Life Assurance, was N19.37 billion, an eight per cent decrease on the claims paid last year.

Commenting on the development, the Managing Director, Mutual Benefits Assurance, Femi Asenuga, said: “The financial result is a testament of the resilience of the brand; strong, well-capitalised and dynamic. The Year 2020 was difficult globally with Nigeria not being an exception. Organisations also had to contend with the devaluation of the naira, COVID-19 and other issues.