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AXA Mansard Insurance plc, a member of the AXA Group, has announced its unaudited financial results for the period ended June 30, 2019, showing a growth of 8 percent in the amount of equity in the company, which belongs to the shareholders.
The shareholders’ funds for the group rose to N22.49 billion, up from N20.90 billion reported as at the end of December 2018. Similarly, the shareholders’ funds of the Insurance arm also increased to N18.2 billion up from N16.7 billion in the same period under review.
Commenting on the result, Kunle Ahmed, CEO, AXA Mansard Insurance plc, said, “The performance bodes well for our insurance business and puts us in a very good place for the future in terms of the impending change in capital requirements. AXA Mansard Insurance plc will continue to operate as a composite insurance company, delivering service to our teeming customers across both general and life businesses.”
At the end of the half-year, the company succeeded in growing gross written premium by 25 percent and underwriting profits by 9 percent, with no growth in operating expenses compared with the previous year.
Gross written premium for the insurance firm increased to N29.36 billion from N23.54 billion in June 2018, thanks to the firms cost management strategy as operating cost within the period remained flat at N3.52 billion. Underwriting profits for the firm jumped to N2.5 billion from N2.2 billion the previous year.
This positive performance is an indication that our efforts to continually grow the business profitably are on track, according to Ngozi Ola-Israel, chief financial officer for the insurance firm.
However, despite the growth in the gross written premium and a zero increase in its operating expenses, the company’s Profit before Tax was down by 16 percent from N1.87 billion to N1.57 billion. This made the Profit After Tax for the firm dip 8 percent to N1.42 billion from N1.54 billion in June 2018.
The reason for the drag in pre-tax profit the company noted was as a result of a one-off loss on the sale of part of its investment property. Investment and other income within the period were down by 13 percent from N3.28 billion to N2.84 billion.
Ahmed explained that prompt claims payment remained critical to the actualisation of insurance companies’ promise to return clients to their pre-loss financial position.
According to Ahmed, the group closed with gross claims payment of N6.8 billion to various clients, attesting to the company’s well tested commitment to meeting our obligations to our customers.
The AXA Group is a major player in the insurance and asset management space, with 160,000 employees serving 105 million clients in 62 countries.
Within these period, total assets for the firm was up 14 percent to N81.24 billion from N73.77 billion as at December 2018, while Insurance Liabilities increased also by 32 percent to N29.65 billion from N22.54 billion. Net claims by the firm were up by 35 percent to N8.54 billion from N6.31 billion one year ago.
