Zenith General Insurance Limited has released its full-year financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019, showing profit before tax rising by 16 per cent from N3.16bn to N3.67bn.
A review of the results showed positive improvements on a year-on-year basis as profit after tax rose by 10 per cent up from N2.79bn to N3.06bn. The company also maintained a robust balance sheet closing the year with total assets of N40.1bn and a shareholders’ fund of N25.9bn.
Gross premium grew by 17 per cent year-on-year from N13.7bn to N16.1bn, while there was a 46 per cent growth in underwriting profit from N2.77bn to N4.06bn. The company made substantial gains from reduced claim expenses and healthy growth in gross written premiums.
Investment income showed an increase of 2 per cent year on year, up from N3.55bn in 2018 to N3.63bn in 2019 despite lower yields on most investment classes in 2019.
The firm’s Managing Director/CEO, Kehinde Borisade, said on the results: “We are re-affirming our mission statement that Zenith General Insurance Ltd exists to ensure peace of mind and also create value to people in a world of uncertainties.
“This is evident in our strong financial performance showing improvement across the board through increased premium income, underwriting profits and investment income despite the economic headwinds witnessed in various sectors of the economy. We also ensured prompt settlement of claims with total claims payment of N3.8bn for the year and an average settlement turnaround time of three days.”
He added that “our company has continued to maintain a very strong and healthy financial position with a growth of 6 per cent year-on-year on total assets, and a 4 per cent increase in shareholders’ funds. We also continue to strive to be the best in the insurance industry; maintaining the strongest solvency position and closing the year with a solvency ratio of 726 per cent.”
Zenith Insurance is one of the first Insurance companies to have met the recapitalisation requirements of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) by recapitalising its share capital from N3bn to N10bn.
