By Bisi Bamishe
SUNU Assurances Nigeria Plc has delighted its shareholders with a 3Kobo dividend per share of 50k ordinary share of the company.
Independent Non-Executive Director, Hajia Taizir Ajala; Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Samuel Ogbodu; Independent Non-Executive Director, Hajia Aisha Abubakar; and Company Secretary, Taiwo Kuku during the firm’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos.
The Chairman of the underwriting firm, Kyari Bukar who announced the dividend payment at the firm’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos, stated that the dividend was paid in view of the impressive results, recorded by the company.
He noted that the firm’s Gross Written Premium (GWP) increased to N5.77 billion in 2022 from N4.87 billion in 2021, adding that this represents a growth of N903 million in value and 18.5 per cent in percentage terms while 94.5 per cent of the full year budget of N6.11 billion was achieved due to adverse impact of macroeconomic pressures in the country.
He said the claims paid reduced from N2.07 billion in 2021 to N1.47 billion in 2022 by 28.8 per cent which represented 93.1 per cent of the paid claims budget for the year, stating that this was due to favorable claims experience during the year considering the non-occuring nature of the End-SARS violence.
Bukar noted that the net claims expenses increased by 41.4 per cent to N1.21 billion in 2022 from N859 million in 2021, which was an overshoot of N261 million above N953 million budgeted for the year.
He submitted that environmental risks (Flood), fidelity guarantee, goods in transit and motor claims affected the performance adversely.
The underwriting profit, he said was N1.49 billion which represents 77.2 per cent of N1.93 billion budget for the year and that the profit increased by 0.6 per cent from N1.48 billion in 2021.
According to him, the company’s profit after tax for the year was N330 million which reflects an underperformance of the year’s budget of N399 million, but outperformed the N127 million profit made in 2021.
The Chairman maintained that the board would continually articulate, implement and review the adequacy and effectiveness of the risk management and internal control system in line with Nigerian Code on Corporate Governance (“NCCG”) to manage its risks and opportunities and promote meaningful engagement with its stakeholders.
The Managing Director, SUNU Assurances, Samuel Ogbodu on his part appreciated the company’s valued shareholders for their continuous supports.
He added the company has put in place strategic plans to ensure growth while it pays more dividends in the next financial year.
