Mutual Benefits Records N4.52 Billion Profit

Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc has announced profit before tax of N4.52 billion for the year ended December 31, 2014, from a loss position of N911 million in 2013.

Chairman of the company, Mr. Akin Opeodu disclosed this to shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting in Lagos recently.

Opeodu said the growth was made possible by the immense commitment and hard work of the staff and management of the company.

He said the company’s claims experience reduced by 15.96 percentage point (ppt) to 25.33 in 2014 as against the 41.29percent recorded in 2013.

He attributed this to what he described as high level risk mitigation strategy which the company’s management has put in place.

According to him,the strategy involves proper measurement of the proportion of the premium written that needs to be reinsured based on adequate risk analysis.

He said in view of this, reinsurance expenses of the company grew by 54 per cent from N954 million in 2013 to N6.2 billion in 2014 during the period.

According to the MutualBenefit Assurance boss, the effect of the foregoing is an increase of about 39 per cent in net premium income of the firm from N6.7 billion recorded in 2013 to N9.3 billion in 2014 (compared to the 90 per cent increase in gross premium written).

Opeodu said the firm’s underwriting profit for 2014 was N5.5 billion representing a 114percent rise against the 2013 result of N2.6 billion.

He said with an adequate investment strategy in place, the group ‘s asset base grew by 31percent from N32.2 billion in 2013 to 42.4 billion, adding that both shareholders’ funds and policy holder’s funds are represented by the right portfolio mix short and long term investments.

The chairmen added that the management of the company succeeded in managing debt to equity effectively in 2014, thereby reducing the debt to equity ratio from 1,394 percent in 2013 to 582 percent in 2014, adding that the improved financial position and performance during the year brought about an increase of 190 per cent in shareholders’ funds from N2.1 billion in 2013 to N6.2 billion in 2014.

Opeodu said that the efforts of the board, management and entire staff of the company to position it at the pinnacle of insurance industry is already receiving recognition from the appropriate quarters as the company won the award of the Most Innovative Insurance Company in Africa 2015 during the maiden edition of the Africa Reinsurance Corporation’s Africa Insurance Awards. The Chairman said that the award was in recognition of the company’s value-adding micro-insurance products, excellent service delivery and bold investments in grass root operations, which ensure that insurance products are taken directly to the low income segment of the populace across Nigeria.