AXA Mansard’s shareholders approve N630m final dividend

Shareholders of AXA Mansard Insurance Plc has approved a total dividend of N630 million for the year ended December 31, 2017.

The shareholders gave their approval at the company’s 26th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos on Thursday.

The approved dividend of N630 million represents six kobo per share.

At the AGM, the shareholders applauded the company for not incurring any penalty or fine during the year and for prompt settlement of claims.

They also urged the company to embark on expansion and roll out new products that will boost the company revenue and profitability, saying that the company should ensure its subsidiaries contribute to the Group.

Addressing the shareholders, the chairman of the company, Mr Olusola Adeeyo stated that the company closed the year with positive results despite the slow recovery of the economy.

Reviewing the year, he stated that “We grew Gross Premium by 30 per cent to N26.8 billion, from N20.7 billion in 2016, driven by the sustained growth of our health business as well as large ticket property and causality transactions.

“Net premium income also grew by 26 per cent to N13.8 billion from N10.9 billion in 2016.

While we experienced some large claims on our portfolios during the year, we were able to make significant recoveries aided by our strong risk-focused reinsurance strategy.”

He noted that “although profitability was affected by claims and interest rate impacts on our life reserves, we were still able to grow profit before tax to N3.2 billion in 2017, from N3.1 billion in 2016 and profit after tax to N2.7 billion from N2.6 billion.”

According to Adeeyo, the company’s balance sheet remained strong in 2017, with total assets amounting to N66.5 billion by year-end and the shareholders’ funds grew by 17 per cent year-on-year to N20.3 billion, remaining well in excess of regulatory requirements.

Also, the chief executive officer of AXA Mansard Insurance, Mr Kunle Ahmed said the company took decisive steps in 2017 towards improving its business effectiveness and ability to serve customers better which has resulted in the impressive performance recorded in the year.

Looking ahead, Ahmed said “we will continue to learn and improve our understanding of our customers’ evolving needs, and how they wish to be served, in order to continually add value to their lives and businesses.

“As we move forward in 2018, we will continue to drive improvements in our business and in our operations.

With the support of our various partners, including brokers and agents, we will serve our clients across our various businesses in a bespoke manner, as a one-stop, non-bank, financial services company.”

Ahmed added that the company trusted in the dedication of its staff and its ability to break new ground in response to changes in its business environment.