EditorINSURANCE operators need to embrace digitalisation while processing claims in order to retain public trust and ensure that the sector contributes to economic growth, the Chairman, Capital Express Assurance Limited, Otunba Ademola Adenuga has said.
Adenuga stated this at the 20th yearly general meeting of the company, held virtually in Lagos.
He also stated that claims paid by the company in 2020 was N2.972bn, which was 82% more than that of 2019.
He said the performance of the company in 2020 was good despite global economic challenges.
The chairman disclosed that the company’s gross premium rose by 43% to N6.328bn in 2020 from N4.421bn in 2019.
Adenuga said Capital Express recorded its profit after tax to amount to N67.8bn in the year under review, from N463.9m in 2019.
He said the underwriting profit dropped to N1.149bn in 2020 from N1.988bn in 2019 which he confirmed was majorly due to the payment of claims and reserve provisions on corporate business.
“We closed 2020 with a total asset of N11.948bn, an increase of 26% when compared with 2019, while total equity improved to N5.368bn from N4.49bn which increased by 19.5% from 2019,” he said.
He however noted that despite the challenges Covid-19 pandemic had on the economy, the strong hold that the company had built into its operations helped it to maneuver the uncertainty to achieve a high percentage of its set goals and record good results.
The chairman commended the board of directors and executive management team for exploring opportunities that the pandemic brought and how they adjusted to the new normal.
“With enhanced IT and repositioning, we ensured that unavoidable losses were controlled to their barest minimum,” he said.
Adenuga said despite the harsh operating environment, Capital Express Assurance was able to record N4bn minimum paid-up share capital stipulated for the first phase of the recapitalisation directive of the National Insurance Commission which ended by December 31, 2020.
He said that a sum of N1.019bn was pumped to support the company’s paid-up share capital to N4.074bn and the shareholder’s fund to N5.368bn.
“This will go a long way to protect the business financially, strengthen our balance sheet and position us for long-term growth,” the chairman said.
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