Shareholders of Cornerstone Insurance Plc were rewarded with N1.09 billion total dividend, translating to six kobo per ordinary share of 50 kobo each, as returns on their investments in the 2022 financial year.
The dividend sum grew by about N92 million when compared with N908 million declared in the 2021 financial year.
Speaking on behalf of the shareholders at the 31st annual general meeting(AGM) of the company in Lagos on Wednesday, coordinator emeritus, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunny Nwosu, though, was expecting the dividend to be higher than what was declared, but charged the company to improve on it going forward.
Nwosu, who applauded the management on the level of business the company did in 2022 despite the challenging business environment in the insurance sector, urged the management to leverage opportunities to further increase its bottomline, such that, shareholders who are owners of the underwriting firm, can reap bountifully from their investment and continue to improve their stake in Cornerstone Insurance.
Earlier, chairman, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Mr. Segun Adebanji, applauded the shareholders who stood by the insurer, despite the tough operating and investment atmosphere, promising that Cornerstone is trying all possible best to continue to improve on its performance year-on-year.
Despite the many challenges that the environment presented, he said, the Gross Premium Written(GPW) of Cornerstone Insurance Plc and its subsidiaries (Cornerstone Group) for the year under review was N22.25 billion, representing an increase of 6% over the previous year’s total of N20.92 billion.
Premiums from life insurance, he said, rose by about four per cent from N5.36 billion in the previous year to N5.62 billion in 2022 and accounted for 25 per cent of the Gross Premium Written.
According to him, “the largest contributors to General Business Gross Premium Written were (i) Oil & Gas, Aviation (ii) Engineering & (iii) Motor classes, contributing N3.62 billion, N3.77 billion and N1.9 billion respectively.
“Our net claims expense ratio for the year stood at 27% and continues to trend downward, as the stricter risk acceptance parameters we put in place continue to yield positive results. We ended the financial year with a Profit before Tax of N2.92 billion, which is a drop of 22% from the previous year.”
Stressing that the change in motor insurance premium rates by the National Insurance Commission(NIACOM) took effect from the 1st of January, 2023, he was optimistic that, ” we are positive that this will cause a significant increase in the gross premium written and will pool in resources to aid claim settlement.”
On his part, the group managing director/CEO, Mr. Ganiyu Musa, said, its general insurance subsidiary, Fin Insurance generated N3.44 billion in Gross Premium written, representing a 15% contribution to the group’s GPW and a growth of 53% over the 2021 financial year, stating that, the company remains committed to its vision of being the leading insurance-based financial services group.
“We will keep striving to be a responsible and sustainable business that creates long-term value for all our stakeholders. We will continue to innovate, invest in our people, and operate with integrity, while remaining responsive to the evolving needs of our customers and communities,” he promised.
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