AXA Mansard Insurance Plc, a worldwide insurance and asset management organization and member of the AXA Group, stated its gross written premium increased by 14% to N28.64 billion by the end of the first quarter of 2022, from N25.08 billion in March 2021.
The company said in a statement that net premium income increased by 39% to N11.57 billion from N8.34 billion in March 2021, while investment and other income decreased by 25% to N1.23 billion from N1.64 billion.
It stated that its operating expenses rose by one per cent to N2.54bn from N2.52bn in March 2021, while profit before tax declined by 84 per cent to N470m, from N2.92bn in March 2021, and profit after tax declined by 85 per cent from N2.63bn to N390m in March 2021.
Commenting on the results, the Chief Financial Officer, AXA Mansard Insurance, Mrs Ngozi Ola-Israel, said, “We delivered double-digit revenue growth of 14 per cent YoY from N25.07bn to N28.64bn and 39 per cent YoY net income growth from 8.34bn to 11.57bn in the first quarter despite a challenging macroeconomic environment.
“However, we also grew life and health businesses by 58 per cent and 24 per cent respectively while our P & C business dipped five per cent as a result of large unrenewable business written in 2021 and deliberate careful selection of risk in 2022.
“The decline of 84 per cent and 85 per cent respectively in the PBT and PAT is largely driven by higher claims experienced in our health portfolio coupled with fair value losses and foreign exchange losses.
“The core underlying earnings (excluding fair value gains/losses, capital gains/losses, and foreign exchange movements) dipped by 22 per cent mainly driven by the higher claims experienced in our health portfolio. Across all lines of businesses, we continue to build necessary actuarial reserves to ensure we have a strong balance sheet.”
Ola-Israel said looking forward to the rest of the year, the firm remained optimistic of the value creation possibilities existing within its business areas.
With the continued support of shareholders, customers, and the dedication of staff and other key stakeholders, she said the firm would deliver excellent underwriting, investment, and operating performance as it prioritised providing value to its valued customers.
Speaking on the financial growth at the end of the first quarter of 2022, the Chief Executive Officer, AXA Mansard Insurance, Kunle Ahmed, said the insurer had begun the fiscal year, 2022, on a solid footing.
He said, “Although we recorded a temporary setback on PBT despite growing revenue by double-digit, this reflects the macroeconomic uncertainties that continue to plague our business environment.
“The fundamentals of our business remain strong, and we remain optimistic that, with the support of our partners, we will deliver on our growth numbers in revenue and profitability at the end of the year.”
He further said that the firm would hold its annual general meeting to consider its 2021 results in July.
“In line with our usual practice of continuous dividend payments to our shareholders, we will be declaring a dividend of 25k per share which represents a growth of 14 per cent when compared with the dividends paid in 2021,” he said.
