By Sola Alabadan
The management of Universal Insurance Plc has put strategies in place to wipe off the company’s negative retained earnings and declare dividends to the shareholders at the end of year 2023, says the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Benedict Ujoatuonu.
Addressing members of the Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editor (NAIPE) in Lagos today, Ujoatuonu said “We are hopeful that at the end of this year, we are going to wipe off our negative retained earnings and declare dividends to our shareholders. We have our eyes on the ball, we are pushing for it, and we are very hopeful we are going to achieve it.”
He spoke at the 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of NAIPE, which was sponsored by the insurance firm.
Apart from paying dividend to shareholders at the close of business this year, Universal Insurance has also set a Premium Income target of N10 billion at the end of 2023 financial year.
Ujoatuonu, said the Company is also aiming to grow the Premium Income further to N18 billion in 2024.
On the performance of the Company, he said, “In 2021, we did a Premium Income of about N3.6 billion. Our Premium Income in 2022 was N5.6 billion representing 58 percent growth.
“The Company’s profit after tax for 2022 was about N618 million.”
Ujoatuonu said during the first quarter of 2023, Universal Insurance recorded a total Premium Income of N3.7 billion and a profit after tax of N825 million.
“In the second quarter of 2023, we have done a Premium Income of N5.1 billion which is almost the total of what we did in the whole of 2022. We are targeting a total of N10 billion Premium Income at the end of this year and with our current performance, we are very optimistic and hopeful, we will meet the target.
“Our target for 2024, of course, will be derived from our performance at the end of 2023 and our Premium Income target for 2024 is N18 billion.
“In Universal Insurance PLC, one of the greatest things we have been able to achieve is positive projection and acceptability in the market. I must tell you this has added so much to us,” Mr. Ujoatuonu said.
This achievement, according to him, is “the accumulation of efforts including your support as journalists in projecting the company to the general public and I want to assure you that we are not in a hurry to sever that partnership. We are going to sustain it and continue to reap the benefit.”
The Company’s Shareholders fund stands at over N19.8 billion with an asset base of about N12.4 billion and 16 billion fully paid shares and issued share capital of N8 billion.
Universal Insurance is driving its growth in the retail space with pocket-friendly top-on-the-line products, designed to include and satisfy low-income earners, as well as artisans in various fields of endeavours.
Poised to be a giant in risk-bearing, Universal Insurance is fully computerized to drive excellence in service delivery, prompt claim settlements, and customer-centricity.
