Regency Assurance ended last year on an impressive note as both revenues and profits surged.
For the year ended December 2013, Regency gross premium written surged by 32.28 percent to N3.77 billion from N2.85 billion same period in the prior year (FY123).
Net premium income in the review period also spiked by 23.18 percent to N2.55 billion compared with N2.07 billion as at FY12.
It should be noted that Regency achieved growth in a rather difficult year where the industry experienced decline in growth rate. Growth was hindered by the ‘No Premium, No cover’ regulation.
This is a section of the 2003 Insurance ACT that stipulates that Premiums must be paid for before an insurer can incept cover. This regulation was enforced by the regulator (NAICOM) with effect from January 1, 2013.
The impressive top line performance was translated to bottom line growth as profit before tax (PBT) rose by 10.25 percent to N810.62 million as against N735.324 million as at FY12.
Profit after tax (PAT) also increased by 7.58 percent to N473.69 million from N439.98 million as at FY12.
Operating expenses surged by 32.91 percent to N1.07 billion in FY13 from N805.2 million probably due to cost incurred on expansion of operations across the country.
Regency’s total assets increased by 15.50 percent to N6.20 billion in FY14 compared with N5.37 billion as at FY12.
The insurance sector is undergoing reforms that will place it on a global competitive arena, open more doors of opportunities for companies like Regency to consolidate growth.
Return on Average Equity (ROaE) in the review period was 10.17 percent while Return on Average Assets (ROAa) stood at 8.19 percent.
Earnings per share EPS jumped to 7.1 percent in FY13 from 6.6 percent as at FY12.
Companies in the insurance sector have been angling to meet the industry gross premium target of N1.1 trillion set by the NAICOM, representing about 1.3 percent of the Nigeria’s 2012 nominal GDP of N80.3 trillion.
Regency Alliance Insurance PLC offers a wide range of insurance products and services, including risk underwriting, risk management, asset management, medical insurance, and savings and investments.
It has share holdings of 6.66 billion with shareholders fund of N4.85 billion as at December 2013.
The company can consolidate on the impressive results by introducing products that can penetrate the market as the sector’s contribution to the Nigeria economy in the just rebased exercise was unimpressive.
Insurance sector contribution to the country’s GDP based on 2013 rebased figures were N453.74 billion which is 0.56 percent of the total GDP figures.
The company’s share price closed at N0.50-June 16th on the floor of the Nigeria stock exchange, while market capitalization was N3.33 billion on the same day.
BALA AUGIE
