By Rukayat Adeyemi
SUNU Assurances Nigeria Plc. on Friday declared a dividend of 3kobo per share of 50kobo ordinary share of the company to its shareholders, for the year ended Dec.31,2022.
The Chairman of the insurance company, Mr Kyari Bukar, announced this at the firm’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos.
Bukar said that the dividend was paid, following an impressive results recorded by the company.
He stated that the firm’s Gross Written Premium (GWP) increased to N5.77 billion in 2022 from N4.87 billion recorded in 2021.
The chairman explained that the figure represented a growth of N903 million in value and 18.5 per cent in percentage terms.
Bukar noted that the firm achieved 94.5 per cent of the full year budget of N6.11 billion, due to adverse impact of macroeconomic pressures in the country.
He said that claims paid by the insurance company reduced from N2.07 billion in 2021 to N1.47 billion in 2022, indicating a reduction of 28.8 per cent.
The chairman stated that this represented 93.1 per cent of the paid claims budget for the year 2022 and was due to favorable claims experience during the year, considering the non-occuring nature of the #End-SARS violence.
According to him, the company’s net claims expenses increased by 41.4 per cent to N1.21 billion in 2022 from N859 million in 2021, showing an overshoot of N261 million, above N953 million budgeted for the year under review.
Bukar submitted that environmental risks, such as flood, fidelity guarantee, goods in transit and motor claims affected the firm’s performance adversely.
He said the company reported an underwriting profit of N1.49 billion, which represented 77.2 per cent of the N1.93 billion budget for the year, while its profit increased by 0.6 per cent from N1.48 billion in 2021.
According to him, the insurer’s Profit After Tax for the year under review was N330 million which reflected an underperformance of the 2022 budget of N399 million, but outperformed the N127 million profit it made in 2021.
The Chairman maintained that the company’s board would continually articulate, implement and review the adequacy and effectiveness of the risk management.
Bukar said the board would also maintain an internal control system in line with Nigerian Code on Corporate Governance (NCCG) to manage its risks, opportunities and promote meaningful engagement with its stakeholders.
In his address, the Managing Director, SUNU Assurances, Mr Samuel Ogbodu appreciated the company’s valued shareholders for their continuous supports.
Ogbodu revealed that the underwriter has put in place strategic plans to ensure growth and enable it pay more dividends in the next financial year. (NAN)
