Zenith Insurance navigates headwind as premium jumps
By Zenith Bank Insurance Limited has navigated the economic headwinds caused by a lower oil price as the insurer’s premium incomes spiked.
The impressive performance means the company’s diversified product base are adding to top lines (revenue) while contemporaneously adding value to shareholder’s wealth.
For the year ended December 2017, Zenith Insurance’s gross premium written increased by 12 percent to N12.50 billion from N11.11 billion the previous year.
Gross premium income and net premium income increased by 14.50 percent and 7.51 percent to N12.80 billion and N8.09 billion respectively in the period under review.
Similarly, the company’s financial statements, which were approved by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) on the 20th of April 2018, showed healthy net assets of N23 billion.
Investors and shareholders need not fret over the company’s financial strength as solvency ratio stood at 634 percent in 2017, meaning that it is able to cover its minimum regulatory solvency requirement six times over. Analysis of the company’s results for FY2017, a copy of which was obtained by this correspondent, showed that fees and commission income jumped by 37 per cent from N907 million in 2016 to N1.245 billion in 2017.
The results showed that net underwriting income also rose from N8.354 billion in 2016 to N9.336 billion while the profit before tax dropped to N4.750 billion from N5.927 billion in 2016 owing to the high claims, increase in management expenses and high taxation expenses.
However, the company’s stellar performance shone through with a return on equity of 15.5 per cent despite the strong economic headwinds in 2017.
The company’s financial strength was also apparent from total claims of N6.7billion paid out in 2017 representing an increase of 36 per cent from the N4.7 billion paid out in 2016 and a total claims ratio of 58 per cent in 2017.
Zenith Insurance is one of the insurance companies in Nigeria, offering a wide range of corporate, commercial and individual insurance services at the right price and with the best service infrastructure to ensure clients’ satisfaction.
The company has total shareholders’ fund of N22.37 billion and a total asset base of N34.37 billion.
BALA AUGIE
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