Underwriting firm, Law Union &Rock Insurance Plc is looking to 35 percent growth in gross premium written (GPR) in 2018, on back of easing recession and positive economic indices.
The Company management, which has expressed the desire to enhance its stake in engineering business in the New Year, is positive that business is going to look up, as operating environment play a major role in industry performance.
Jide Orimolade, managing director/CEO of the Company who disclosed this during a meeting with the journalist said “we can see a better economy clearly showing with a continuous decrease in consumer price index now at 15.9 percent, increase in crude oil price no at $62.99, foreign exchange dropping. All these indices show a better 2018”
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He said the 30.8 percent share of capital expenditure in the 2018 budget signal a lot of activities which would require insurance services better than this year and should be expected.
Orimolade said the company has positioned itself to continue to dominate in the engineering market, and this market segment is expected to contribute to the chunk of our premium in 2018.
“We have further reviewed our treaty arrangement in alignment with our objective with a plan to retain more of the company’s business in 2018”.
According to him, the company in 2018 will be more committed to the effective distribution of most of its retail products, having deployed quite a number tom its e-platform to make its easily available for her customers.
To date, the company has paid over N1.25 billion in claims, in keeping with the promise made to its customers “that is to be with them at their critical time”.
According to him, the firm’s gross premium written as at third quarter 2017 stands at N3.531 billion as against N3.197 billion in 2016, a 10 percent growth; Investment income, N611.86 million; profit before tax, N727.87 million, a 19 percent increase over 2016 figure, and retained earnings is N470.56 million, showing 786 percent increase over the figure in 2016. While the shareholders’ fund stood N6.22 billion total assets currently stands at N10.36 billion, a 12 percent growth over last year.
“Part of our corporate objective is to create a niche for ourselves in the industry. We are not unmindful of the competition which is characterised with a price war in the industry, but we believe we could navigate through by differentiation and best service delivery.
“It is on this onerous focus that we have been giving our best to our esteemed customers,” he said.
He also stressed that insurance operators expect that the on-going partnership between the insurance industry and State Government midwife by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to grow the income from the compulsory insurance policies, would impact the sector positively.
Supo Sogelola, the executive director, Technical and Operations, said the firm is presently investing on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to drive its operations, adding that the claims processes are being digitalized to ensure prompt settlement.
According to him, the firm is working assiduously to deepen its retail operations as the company has acquired software that would enable the public to procure their insurances at the comfort of their homes without necessarily coming to the company.
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