Despite worries about the economic situation in the 2021 financial year, operators in the nation’s insurance industry are beginning to explore digital avenues to aid the performance of their gross written premium.
Assessing the financial report for 2021 of an insurance operator, Regency Alliance Insurance Plc, revealed that operators could increase their gross written premium in the industry through the adoption of technology innovations to disseminate insurance products to consumers in the country.
The report shows that the underwriter generated a gross premium of N5.57 billion in the 2022 financial period, which on a year-on-year basis, showed an increase of 8.15 per cent over N5.12 billion generated in 2021.
Speaking at its 29th yearly general meeting in Lagos, the Chairman of the company, Clem Baiye, said the outstanding performance was predominantly driven by growth across all lines of business within the organisation as the claims payment rose by 39.7 per cent to N1.44 billion at the end of 2022 financial period.
Baiye said, “There was an increase of 39.7 per cent in the net claims position in 2022 when compared with that of 2021 as net claims grew from N1.03bn to N1.44 billion.
“The increase occurred mainly in the aviation, marine, and the oil and gas business lines due mainly to foreign currency exposure.”
The net premium performance, he said, decreased from N2.94 billion in 2021 to N2.75 billion in 2022.
He revealed that the company’s investment income rose by 16 per cent from N364.73 million in 2021 to N423.09 million in the 2022 financial period.
Its profit before tax rose by 60.65 per cent to N551.48 million in 2022 from N343.28 million as of the end of 2021, while profit after tax also increased from N320.75 million in 2021to N528.38 million in 2022.
The shareholders’ funds, he said, grew by 7.94 per cent from N6.65 billion in 2021 to N7.18 billion at the end of 2022.
He said, “The total asset base of our group as of December 31, 2022, stood at N12.84 billion, an increase of N969.92 million or 8.15 per cent, when compared to the position as of December 31, 2021.
“The equity attributable of the company in the group increased to N7.24 billion in 2022 from N6.7 billion in 2021.”
He also revealed that the contribution of the subsidiaries to the overall profit after tax, after deducting attributable non-controlling interests grew from N1.86 million in 2021 to N9.52 million in 2022.
To position the company for the future and in line with best practices, he told the shareholders that the company was considering metamorphosing into a holding company.
“Your board is working on this and in the future, you will be called on to ratify this,” he said.
The Managing Director, Biyi Otegbeye, appreciated the clients, agents, and brokers for doing business with the organisation.
He assured of the board’s commitment to continue to work for the growth and expansion of the company.
