Posted by By Nnamdi Duru on
Industrial and General Insurance Company Limi-ted (IGI), the nation's leading private insurer, has posted N281.98 million profit after tax from its operations last year.
Industrial and General Insurance Company Limi-ted (IGI), the nation's leading private insurer, has posted N281.98 million profit after tax from its operations last year. It also increased its shareholders' interest in the group to N5.01 billion. The company's after tax profit improved by 68 percent while its shareholders' fund was improved by 262 percent.
This information forms part of the company's 2004 Annual Report and Accounts unveiled at its 13th Annual General Meeting in Lagos recently.
Last year, the company was able to achieve N4.13 billion gross premium while its earned premium income peaked at N1.94 billion. Within the year under review, the firm also raked in N479.75 million from its investments and other sources.
Its profit before tax in 2004 was 18 percent higher than that of the previous year, it rose from N319.29 million in 2003 to N376.74 million in 2004. Likewise, the company's profit after tax peaked at N281.98 million last year, a 21 percent improvement on the amount recorded the previous year, which was N233.95 million.
The company thereafter raised its contingency reserve by 21 percent, increasing it from N311.50 million the previous year to N375.55 million in 2004.
The life and non-life business underwriter also increased its insurance fund by 20 percent last year, moving it up from N2.18 billion the previous year to N2.6 billion last year. Its deposit administration fund however, fell by 6 percent, falling from N2.29 billion in 2003 to N2.15 billion by the end of last year.
The company also increased its short term investments by 56 percent from N4.56 billion in the previous year to N7.12 billion last year; increasing it from N134.55 million the previous year to N382.37 million.
The firm also grew its shareholders' interest by 262 percent last year, having raised their fund from N1.41 billion in 2003 to N5.01 billion in 2004. Total assets of the firm was increased by 134 percent last year, having been grown from N1.22 billion the previous year to N2.86 billion last year. Its paid-up share capital by was likewise increased by 26 percent from N501.25 million the previous year to N630.56 million last year.
The underwriting firm's actual earnings per share peaked at 65 kobo for every N1 share invested in it, up from the 37 kobo recorded the previous year; this is a 76 percent improvement. The dividend per share paid to shareholders ncreased by 33.33 percent, having been increased from 15 kobo for every N1 kobo ordinary share the previous year to 20 kobo at the end of 2004 accounting year just its dividend cover stood at 33.33 percent, coming up from 3 the previous year to 4 last year.