Royal Exchange Insurance records N10.8bn premium, targets micro-insurance

Royal Exchange Insurance Plc said it generated a gross written premium of N10.79 billion in its 2015 financial year end, showing a 14 per cent increase compared to N9.43 billion posted in 2014 financial year, even as it promised to leverage on micro-insurance to capture more Nigerians in the grassroots.

While addressing the shareholders at the 47th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the group in Lagos on Thursday, the Chairman, Royal Exchange, Mr. Kenneth Odogwu, added that the Net Claims Expenses for the year under review amounted to N3.04 billion in comparison with N2.43 billion reported in 2014, signaling an increase of 25 per cent, even as Underwriting Expenses decreased by 4 per cent from N2.74 billion in 2014 to N2.64 billion in 2015.

These, he said, translated to Net Income before Overhead Expenses of  N2.38 billion, declining by 30 per cent when compared with 2014 value of N3.40 billion, while Management Expenses increased from N3.09 billion to N3.27 billion in the year under review.

Stating that the group experienced a loss before taxation of N897 billion largely due to insurance contract liabilities’ provision made in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS), the chairman noted that an increase in reserve to the tune of N1.2 billion was made by the group for the insurance and investment liabilities of the life business during the year under review.

In the same vein, the Group Managing Director, Alhaji Auwalu Muktari, said the insurance firm intends to be more active in promoting micro-insurance to bridge the insurance needs of the yearning public.

In the period under review, he said Royal Exchange had sponsored programmes targeted at   improving insurance literacy among secondary school students and deepening its footprints in the lower and informal segment of the insurance market, promising to continue to spearhead insurance education and awareness in the country.

At the AGM, a prominent insurance shareholder, Mr. Nonah Awo, who was unhappy that the company was yet to declare dividend in years, urged the company to cut down on its management expenses, which will allow the insurer to declare dividend or bonus in years to come.

He equally frowned at the way the company continues to pay monetary sanctions to the tune of over 30 million to regulatory authorities over the years, he said, the company could have avoided the fines and utilize this money to give returns on investment to shareholders to keep them happy.