Underwriting firm, Prestige Assurance plc has secured the approval of its shareholders to increase its authorized share capital to N3, 000,000 from the initial N2, 223,489,000 by the creation of 1,553,022,000 ordinary shares of N.50k each.
This was part of the decision reached at the Company’s 48th Annual General Meeting held in Lagos.
As part of the special business also, the directors got shareholders nod to issue bonus shares from its share premium account in the sum of N7, 82,569,517.00 being 41 new shares for every 100 shares held thereby increasing the issued share capital of the Company from N1, 908,706140 to N2, 691,275,658 by issuing 1,565,139,035 ordinary shares of N0.50 kobo each, to shareholders who are on the Register Members at a date to be determined.
Hassan Usman, chairman of the Company who announced performance of the firm said gross premium income rose 45.7 percent at the end of the financial year ended December 31, 2017 to N3.81 billion from N2.61 billion in 2016.
He said the investment income also appreciated remarkably by 98.9 percent to N830.91 million from N417.82 in 2016.
Profit for the year stood N531.84 million, 139 percent increase from N22.99 million in the previous year.
While total assets rose 21.53 percent to close at N11.78 billion in 2017, from N9.69 in the previous year, earnings per share rose 139.7 to close at 9.90 kobo in the review year.
Usmam said the world economic crisis has created avenues for business growth and development, stating that Prestige Assurance see strength and not weakness and as such is prepared to widen her business horizon to deliver quality returns to her Stakeholders.
“It is obvious that there are great potentials for the Insurance Industry in Nigeria, particularly with the various initiatives that our regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and trade association have put in place to bring sanity into the industry as well as policies that are needed for business to thrive.”
“Our Company has positioned itself to succeed in a vibrant financial market and more importantly in insurance sector by introducing new products and processes that guarantee good returns on investments, as such, no stone will be left unturned to build financial supermarket that delivers quality services and generate profits to our loyal and esteemed Shareholders.”
Usman further stated, “We realize the competitive environment of the insurance industry could be as challenging as ever, especially with the entrance of international giants into the Nigeria market. We welcome this development, not only because of the opportunity it presents to upgrade insurance practice in Nigeria, but also in recognition of the rare competitive strength we have built over the years as one of the oldest and most experienced operators in the Insurance Nigeria market.
At Prestige, our in-depth knowledge of the Nigeria market with very strong international links gives us cause to believe that we are well poised to tap into areas of opportunity in the Nigerian market with our market-winning products and services.
During the year under review, we launched two new products-the Prestige Salary Protection Shield and the mediclaim policy with both products showing success and potentials.
As part of our strategy to achieve our intention to be one of the top three insurance company in Nigeria, we are opening single Man Offices across the country with the intention of spreading our outreach to new frontiers, new products and there are plans to sell open more branches with the intention of acquiring more market share of the insurance industry.
