Leadway Assurance Records N306m Profit After Tax
By Nnamdi Duru
Leadway Assurance Company Limited, a leading composite business underwriter out to give a listening ear to both small and big clients has recorded a whopping N306.43 million profit after tax from its operations last year. The company also raised its capital base from N200 million to N350 million within the period under review.
This information forms part of the content the company's 2003 Annual Report and Accounts unveiled at the 32nd Annual General Meeting of the company in Kaduna recently.
The report disclosed that the company achieved a 26.64 percent increase in gross premium income rising from N2.29 billion in 2002 to N2.90 billion last year. This amount is made up of N558.18 million life business premium income and N1.85 billion general business premium income.
The insurance firm, after cedeing reinsurance premium to reinsurance firms recorded premium earned totalling N2.07 billion, a 55.63 percent improvement over the N1.33 billion recorded the previous year.
The profit before tax recorded by the company last year was 244.85 percent higher than the figure for the previous year, rising from N100.79 million in 2002 to N347.57 million in 2003.
At the end of the day, Leadway Assurance recorded a whopping 259.25 percent improvement in after tax profit, rising from N87.24 million in 2002 to N306.43 million last year.
The company therefore increased its contingency reserve by 40.25 percent, raising it from N43.70 million the previous year to N61.29 million as at end of last years operation.
The underwriting firm also increased its earnings per share by 251.36 percent, from 12.46 kobo for every 50 kobo ordinary share in the company to 43.78 kobo. The dividend paid out to shareholders was also raised by 110.08 percent from 7.14 kobo per share in 2002 to 15 kobo at the end of 2003 accounting year.
The company as well set aside the sum of N150 million as reserve for bonus share issue.
Shareholders fund in Leadway Assurance was also raised by 30.69 percent. It peaked at N2.47 billion, up from N1.89 billion the previous year.
Meanwhile, within the period under consideration, Leadway Assurance raised its capital base by 75 percent, increasing it from N200 million as at the end of 2002 to N350 million by the end of the 2003 accounting year.
Meanwhile, shareholders at the 32nd Annual General Meeting, authorised the board of directors of the company to capitalise the sum of N150 million standing in the credit of its reserve for bonus shares.
The bonus shares, in tune with the approval granted the board is to be allotted, distributed and credited as fully paid-up shares to existing shareholders in the proportion of three new shares for every seven shares held in the company as at May 3, 2004. The new shares would rank equally with existing shares of the company in all respects except for dividend appropriation from its 2003 profit.
The shareholders also approved the increase of the company's authorised share capital from N500 million to N1 billion by creating an additional 1 billion 50 kobo ordinary shares. The authorised share capital of the company is now N1 billion divided into 2 billion 50 kobo ordinary shares.
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