African Prudential Grows Profit by 68%, to Pay 40 kobo Dividend

African Prudential Plc yesterday announced its audited results for the year ended December 31, 2017, showing improved performance. The results showed gross earnings of N3.3 billion, indicating a growth of 37.1 per cent, from N2.4 billion in 2016. Net income interest jumped by 67.1 per cent from N1.4 billion to N2.4 billion, while profit before tax improved by 42.9 per cent to N1.4 billion to N2.1 billion. Profit after tax rose by 68.3 per cent from N1.0 billion to N1.7 billion. The board of the company has recommended a dividend 40 kobo per share.

In line with its determination to dominate and redefine the landscape of registrar service delivery in the country, the company recently unveiled an USSD code *4018# that will enable shareholders to perform many tasks on their own.

Tagged “Personal Registrar,” the code enables shareholders to perform multitude of tasks including checking their outstanding dividend, shareholding balance, confirming bank mandate right from their mobile phones from the comfort of their homes, work places or leisure. With the code, shareholders can also check postal and email addresses from their mobile phones.

Speaking about the product, the Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Peter Ashade, explained that the service, which is available round the clock, works on all kinds of mobile phones and networks, and does not require internet data, adding that shareholders only need to dial the code to access the service environment.

He noted that the “Personal Registrar” was developed by the company in its drive to persistently pursue exceptional service experience and is borne out of its culture of excellence and persistent drive to improving investors’ confidence in the market.

He said: “We continuously embark on product development and process improvement to deliver exceptional customer experience to our clients across sectors of the economy, while exciting the Nigerian capital market as a whole.”

Ashade added at the announcement of the company’s change of name from Africa Prudential Plc to Africa Prudential Registrars Plc in 2017, it was emphasised that the name change does not imply its exit from registrar business but was rather to enable it extend service offerings to other sectors of the economy by leveraging technology, one of which is the just launched USSD code *4018#.

Also commenting, a non-Executive Director of the company, Mr. Emmanuel Nnorom, stressed that the development of the product was not just about Africa Prudential, but remains a plus for the entire registrar business in Nigeria and encouraged other players in the market to follow suit in breaking new grounds. Similarly, Head, Business Development of the company, Mrs. Bridget BayoAjayi encouraged shareholders whose mobile numbers have not been duly registered on the company’s database to execute a shareholder data update form for their mobile numbers to enjoy the service.