FY2015: Sovereign Trust, Staco Insurance record profit
Sovereign Trust Insurance (STI) Plc and Staco Insurance Plc have both posted profits in their 2015 financial year.
The two firms, while disclosing their 2015 financial statements to the shareholders in Lagos over the weekend, promised to always make their respective companies profitable, irrespective of the harsh business operating environment in the country.
On his part, Mr. Oluseun Ajayi, Chairman, Sovereign Trust said the insurer posted a Profit After Tax (PAT) of N582.21 million in 2015, adding that, in spite the tough operating terrain, it was able to sustain a considerable growth as the Net Profit increased by 97 per cent, moving from N294.94 million in 2014 to N582.21 million in 2015. This feat, he said, was traceable to several cost reduction mechanism adopted by the company in the course of the year.
Stating that the firm experienced a slight fall in Gross Premium Written and Underwriting Profit, he linked this performance to the harsh operating terrain and policy uncertainty experienced in the country during the year. The firm’s gross premium written for the year stood at N7.13 billion; net underwriting income, N4.35 billion and claims settlement, N1.5 billion.
STI, he pointed out, has deployed measures and strategies aimed at increasing income generation and positioning the brand for improved service delivery.
In the same vein, Staco Insurance Plc recorded a Profit After Tax (PAT) of N84.32 profit in its 2015 financial year.
Mr. Dere Otubu, Former Chairman, Staco Insurance, who stated this at the company’s AGM in Lagos, noted that its Gross Premium stood at N6.19 billion, while Net Premium earned was N4.68 billion and even as its Profit Before Tax (PBT) was N168.61 million.
2015, he pointed out, was full of challenges, which gave rise to a decrease in Revenue of 3.9 per cent from N5.96 billion in 2014 to N5.73 billion in 2015.
Otubu pointed out that the firm’s underwriting results also decreased by 16.61 per cent, from N2.33 billion in 2014 to N1.94 billion in 2015 while Profit Before Tax fell by 54.72 per cent from N137.68 million to N62.34 million in 2015. However, the firm equally announced the appointed of Turoti Samuel as the new chairman.
Inspenonline rewards Sovereign Trust Insurance, others for deepening insurance, pension
As part of effort to acknowledge individuals and companies who engaged in deepening insurance penetration and acceptance, thereby contributing to the growth of the insurance industry in the country, Inspenonline Media has awarded Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc as the Corporate Brand of the Year Award, while the award of Corporate Social Responsibility of the Year award went to Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc and Royal Exchange Plc.
The Award ceremony, which took place at the 2015 Nigerian Insurance & Pension Awards organised by Inspenonline Media in Lagos, over the weekend, saw Mr.Val Ojumah, Managing Director of FBNInsurance Plc winning awarded the 2015 Inspenonline Insurance Man of the Year.
Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited also won the Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) of the Year award with Plum Insurance Brokers Limited winning home with the Insurance Broker of the Year award, while the Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria (ARIAN), for the second year in a row, won the Best Professional Group of the Year Award, with Excellence Award going to Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), on behalf of Lagos State Government.
The Guest Speaker at the event, who is also the Director-General, Ondo State Pension Commission, Mr. Jaiyeola Olowosuko, said the Group/Life Insurance that workers enjoy while in service can also be implemented after service to make the CPS more robust, by amending the pension scheme to include a medical and insurance, so that the insurance takes care of them in their old age at a premium already paid while in service.
Proffering solutions to the challenges of the CPS, Olowosuko called on the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and respective employees to ensure the perfection of documents which must start a year before retirement, while the necessary documentations with PenCom should equally be done on time so that upon retirement, there is no delay for any retiree to access his or her pension entitlement.
According to him, “The necessary clearance with various employee should be done a week before Retirement. We have seen instances where a worker’s Retirement Savings Account (RSAs) is robust and yet 3 to 6 months after retiring, the money is not accessed. This is not good for life after service (working).”
He charged PFAs and PenCom to begin to think outside the box as well as partner with mortgage firms in a bid to build houses for contributors through their pension contributions.
Speaking on the motive of the award, which started four years ago, Editor, Inspen media, Mr. Udo Chuks Okonta, said that the award was designed to celebrate organisations and individuals who have helped to reshape activities in the insurance and pension industries and by extension, the economy.
This year award, according to him, was organised by setting high standards to judge the operation of companies and state governments that have helped to foster growth and developments in insurance and pension business operations.
To achieve this, he said his organisation gave the public the opportunity to select those to be celebrated by calling for votes.
To him, “Having harmonised the votes which came from different parts of the world, we benchmarked the scores with the set standard to arrive at the winners we are celebrating today. The award, which is in seven categories, had 25 nominees of which eight winners emerged, even as a state (Lagos) government was recognised for its contribution to the growth of pension business in the country.”
On the theme of the Award ceremony, which is ‘Robust Pension key to better life after work’, he said the topic was chosen to help proffer solutions to the challenges presently confronting the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in the country.
He said the Federal Government has accumulated over N140 billion pension liabilities in recent times, even as some states were unable to remit contributions for the past two years, whilst some private sector employers are finding it difficult to remit or embrace the scheme.
