Guinea Insurance PLC recorded a Gross Premium Written of N1.35 billion in 2021, representing a 24.8% increase over the N1.08 billion recorded in 2020, in spite of the difficulties and operational challenges encountered throughout the year, the company’s Chairman, Ugochukwu Godson, said.
Mr. Ugochukwu, who addressed shareholders during the 64th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Insurance Firm in Lagos recently, informed that the Gross Premium Income rose from N1.05 billion in 2020 to N1.34 billion in 2021 representing a 27.4% increase.
The Net Claims Expenses in 2021 was N0.48 billion which is a 69.1% improvement over the sum of N1.55 billion recorded in 2020. He explained that the improvement was due to efficient claims management.
However, the company did record a Loss Before Tax of N60 million in 2020, as against N225 million recorded in year 2020, representing over 73.3% decrease. Loss After Tax also stood at N23 million in 2021, representing a significant drop of 89.9% decrease when compared with the sum of N228million recorded in 2020.
The hybrid meeting had a group of in-person participants connecting with remote participants to afford all stakeholders the same participatory rights as with a physical meeting.
The Guinea Insurance boss reaffirmed the board’s and management’s commitment to strategically and effectively position the company as an investor’s delight, while also propelling it to a profitable height for the financial well-being of its shareholders.
Speaking on behalf of the shareholders, Boniface Okezie, Chairman of the Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, noted that insurance relies on trust and the timely payment of claims. He praised the company for its efforts in this area as well as for maintaining its customary attitude of accountability, responsiveness, and commitment to the welfare of policyholders at all times.
He recommended deliberate and purposeful actions toward taking the company to glorious times, but expressed concerns over the numerous mitigating factors impeding the projected upward mobility of the company to profitability.
Godson expressed his opinion in this regard, stating that the company was already on the comeback trail to profitability as funds had been injected to strengthen its financial base and increase its capacity for transacting large-scale business deals.
In addition, Guinea Insurance’s Managing Director, Ademola Abidogun, urged the shareholders to see the positive aspects of the upcoming changes. “With the injection of additional capital,” he asserted, “our company is now well positioned to attract and transact larger portions of new businesses.” It is undeniable that consumers today are shifting and favoring simplicity more than ever before; as a result, our investment roadmap in technology and digital transformation is motivated by the need to give customers the freedom to purchase reliable insurance products without any geographical restrictions. He continued by saying that the company had made an effort to keep management costs to a minimum, obtain regulatory approval for the underwriting of agricultural insurance, and reduced operating expenses.
The shareholders approved the re-election of the following directors: Godson Ugochukwu, Alhaji Hassan Dantata, and Simon Bolaji, while also agreeing to increase Guinea Insurance’s issued and allocated share capital to 7,942,800,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each, effective as of August 16, 2022.
