Africa Prudential posts 17.2% decline in profit

Temitope Adebayo

Africa Prudential Plc has reported a decline of 17.2 per cent in profit, posting N381 million in its unaudited financial statements for the period ended March 31, 2019, compared to N406 million reported in the first quarter (Q1) of 2018.

Africa Prudential’s profit before tax also dropped to N453 million in Q1 2019 from N541 million in Q1 2018, a 16.2 per cent decline.

The Company recorded a weak balance sheet as it closed the quarter ended March 2019 with total assets of N20.38 billion as against N21.27 billion in the full year of 2018.

The drop in total assets was as a result of the 37 per cent reduction in debt instruments at amortized cost, the latter which was the result of a reduction in debt instruments such as Treasury bills and Loans & Advances by 67 per cent and 28 per cent respectively.

Commenting on the result, The Managing Director/CEO of Africa Prudential, Mr Obong Idiong, stated that “While we were faced with some challenges which impeded our performance this past quarter, one of which was the declining yield environment thus mildly impacting one of our income line item- Interest Income.

“On the other hand, we saw a 23 per cent increase in our revenue from contracts with customers which were as a result of the several corporate actions undertaken by many of our clients in view of their full-year Annual General Meetings, dividend declaration etc.

“The management is however committed to improving upon our performance in the coming quarters following the launch of our strategic business units (SBUs), namely; Digital Technology, EasyCoop Mart and Cooperative business.

“To complement the traditional Registrar business, the benefits of the new business segments are expected to be felt from Q2 2019 going forward”.

Furthermore, he reiterated that “The various strategic steps we have been taking is towards establishing us as the registrar of choice, while making a foray into new ventures with high growth prospect, to do this we would be leveraging on technology, research & development as well as capacity building to ensure we achieve the aforesaid goals.

“We would continue to bring to bear, our doggedness whilst taking pragmatic steps towards tackling the arrays of issues plaguing us and our industry for a long time now.

Going into the second quarter of 2019, we would not be resting on our oars as we would ensure we keep to our promise of delivering unique customer experience to our wide clientele base” Idiong added.