Goldlink Insurance Makes N118m Profit in 2003
By Nnamdi Duru
Goldlink Insurance Company Limited, a new generation underwriting firm has recorded recorded N118 million profit from its operations last year. The company also raised its paid-up capital from N360 million to N400 million through a bonus share offer to its shareholders.
This information formed part of the contents of the company's "2003 Annual Report and Financial Statement" unveiled at the 11th Annual General Meeting of the company in Lagos recently. The report also indicated that the company raised its net assets from N643.7 million to N1.04 billion.
The report disclosed that the company last year, raked in N.106 billion as gross premium income, a 39.55 percent improvement over the N756.12 million recorded the previous year.
Its profit before tax last year was 59.1 percent higher than what it was the previous year, rising from N83.01 million in 2002 to N132.07 million in 2003. Likewise, the company's profit after tax peaked at N118 million last year, a 59.7 percent increase over the amount recorded the previous year, which stood at N73.89 million.
The company also increased its paid-up share capital by 139.8 percent from N150.125 million the previous year to N360 million last year as well as increase its insurance fund by 36.94 percent from N368.23 million in 2002 to N504.24 million in 2003.
The company's total assets was also grown by 61.76 percent from N643.7 million the previous year to N1.04 billion last year. Shareholders' fund in the underwriting firms was also raised by 94.95 percent from N275.47 million in 2002 to N537.03 million last year while contingency reserves in the company was increased by 33.14 percent from N97.38 million the previous year to N129.65 million by the end of 2003 accounting period.
Goldlink Insurance Company also increased the volume of dividend paid to its shareholders last year by 80 percent, from the N20 million paid out to shareholders the previous year to N36 million last year while dividend's per share which stood at 10 kobo by the end of the last year fell by 23.08 percent short of the 13 kobo earned by every N1 ordinary share in the company the previous year. Also earnings per share decreased by 32.65 percent, falling from 49 kobo per share in 2002 to 33 kobo per share in 2003.
Owners of the company also at the Annual General Meeting approved a bonus share offer totalling N40 million to beef up the organisation's capital base from N360 million to N400 million.
Directors of the company were given the nod to implement their recommendation that "the sum of N40 million being part of the amount standing to the credit of the company's reserve for bonus issue account be capitalised and applied in issuing bonus shares to members". The board was also "authorised to issue to members by way of bonus issue 40 million ordinary shares in proportion of one ordinary share of N1 to nine ordinary shares each held by them as at April 30, 2004" with such shares ranking pari-pasu in all respects with existing shares of the company.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the company, Mr. Gbenga Afolayan in his statement noted that the recently concluded recapitalisation exercise in the insurance industry has started yielding results.
Speaking on recapitalisation, Afolayan said, "the stake is high now with expected structural changes particularly in the ownership, human resources needed, better business appreciation/orientation, expected returns on fresh funds injected. There is already noticeable reflection of these changes in the quality of business we underwrite and hence the industry future health status in terms of profitability/security".
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