Custodian And Allied Insurance Records N5.28 Billion Premium

Custodian and Allied Insurance Company Plc said it achieved a gross premium income of N5.28 billion in its 2009 business outing. This represents a significant improvement of 29 per cent as against the 2008 figure of N4.102 billion.

Similarly, its profit before tax grew from N1.85 billion to N2.019 billion representing an increase of nine per cent while profit after tax rose by 25 per cent from N1.56 billion to N1.89 billion.

Also, its total assets grew to N14.16 billion from N11.941 billion in 2008 indicating an upward swing of 19 per cent while the shareholders funds was pegged at N11.144 billion during the period under review.

The chairman of the company Chief Michael Ade Ojo made the disclosure recently at the Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos while addressing the shareholders at its 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Chief Ojo also announced a dividend proposal of 17 kobo per share out of which an interim dividend of five kobo per share had already been paid during the year.

He said the dividend approved for the shareholders was in recognition of the consistence growth of the company and in keeping with its history of giving back to the shareholders.

He listed other significant achievements of Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc during the review period to include an improved rating of A+ by Global Credit Rating (GCR) of South Africa.

According to him, Aureos Africa Fund LLC converted part of their N1.17 billion Redeemable Convertible Loan to equity in demonstration of their confidence in the long term potentials of the company.

Chief Ojo expressed appreciation to the company's Clients, Insurance Brokers and others for their support and patronage emphasizing, "our success story at Custodian and Allied is incomplete without these esteemed business partners."

He also took an objective looks at the insurance industry, saying that the development in the sector included stronger regulation and the introduction of the Market Development and Restructuring Initiative (MDRI) by the apex regulatory body, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), a project geared towards increasing premium to N1 trillion by the year 2012.

This is even as industry practitioners entered into a joint market agreement under the auspices of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) to address common issues.

The chairman had earlier in his review of some key developments and characteristics of the operating environment for 2009 observed that the provisional growth statistics revealed by the National Bureau of Statistics however favoured the view point that emerging and developing market economics especially African countries were more resident to the financial crisis.

These statistics indicated an improved Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2009 over the 5.98 per cent recorded in 2008.

The non-oil sector remained the major driver of GDP growth while the oil-sector GDP growth was largely complemented by the relative peace in the Niger Delta following the amnesty deal with the militants, he pointed out.

He noted that the performance of the capital market during the review period remained low, with the All-Share Index dropping by 34 per cent to 20.827.17 as at December 31, 2009 from 31,450.78 in 2008, while market capitalization declined by 28 per cent to N4.989 trillion as at December 31, 2009 from N6.96 trillion within the same period in 2008.

He further pointed out that there was relative stability in the foreign exchange market for most of the year after the initial turbulence in the first quarter.

"As at the end of 2009 the whole Dutch Auction System Average amounted to N149.58 per US dollar while the inter-bank rate averaged N151.05 per US dollar," he added.