Mutual Benefits Assurance Grows Premium By 7% To N19.98bn In 2020

Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc said it has recorded a seven per cent growth in its gross premium written to N19.98 billion in 2020 from N18.69 billion recorded in 2019.

According to a statement by the firm’s Head, Corporate Communication, Ellen Offo, the company’s 2020 audited results released on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), showed that profit after tax rose by 41 per cent from N3.61 billion in 2019 to N5.10 billion in 2020 while profits before tax stood at N5.04 billion, representing a 34 per cent increase from N3.75 billion in 2019.

The company also recorded a 74 per cent growth in shareholders’ funds which rose to N23.35 billion from the N13.43 billion of 2019. Total Assets also grew by 22 per cent from N67.78 billion in the previous year to N82.87 billion in the year under review.

Insurance contract liabilities for the year under review stood at N17.57 billion, a 25% increase from the previous year’s N14.10 billion.

The combined claims paid by Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc. and it’s subsidiary; Mutual Benefits Life Assurance was N19.37 billion representing an eight per cent decrease on the claims paid last year.

A breakdown of the claims profile for 2020 reveals that the Life business paid a total of N3.54 billion in Group Life claims, Maturity claims accounted for N7.76 billion while for Credit Life claims were N140 million. Other Claims paid include individual death claims, annuity claims, surrender claims and partial withdrawal claims at N213 million, N44 million, N3.65 billion and N870 million respectively.

The Gross claims paid for Non-Life business was N3.14 billion. Motor claims were N919 million, Fire claims N476 million and General accident claims was N663 million. Special Risks (Aviation/Oil & Gas) and Marine claims were N737 million and N349 million.

Commenting on the company’s performance, Managing Director, Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Femi Asenuga, said: “The financial result is a testament of the resilience of the Mutual Benefits brand; strong, well-capitalized and dynamic. The Year 2020 was difficult globally with Nigeria not being an exception; organisations also had to contend with the devaluation of the Naira, COVID-19 and other issues. With the onset of the pandemic, we activated our business continuity in the company, in our subsidiaries, to ensure that our customers’ businesses were not severely impacted. Our massive investments in technology over the years paid off tremendously; our numerous customers were able to connect with us from the comfort of their homes via our various channels ranging from the e-commerce enabled website to our mobile App, telephone, email, social media. Everything was designed for the comfort of our customers.”

“Despite the negatives of 2020, we were still able to end the year in profit”, Asenuga added.

In his comments, the Managing Director/CEO, Mutual Benefits Life Assurance Limited, Mr Ademola Ifagbayi said that “Our business continuity plan enabled us to be there for our customers at their hours of need. This is attested to by the volume and quantum of claims we settled in 2020 and the speed with which we did it; this is proof of our commitment to our customers as we continue to refine our business processes.