Nairametrics| After almost a year of delay, Linkage Assurance Plc released its audited financial statements for 2015. The results were published today on the NSE website. The company posted a fantastic result with increases in gross premium written, as well as a 58% increase in profit after tax from 324.9 million naira in 2014 to 512 million naira in 2015. Efficiency however is grossly lacking in management’s running of the company.
The insurance firm spent a whooping 46.7 million naira on catering services for its staff in 2015. An amount almost 10% of its profit after tax for the year. The contract was also awarded to one of the firm’s directors, Mrs Pelebo Banigo. Mrs Banigo is the wife of the firm’s founder Chief Ebitimi Banigo. Questions, thus arise. Namely:
- Was the contract awarded following a tender process from various firms ?
- Is that the most prudent way to conserve resources for an insurance firm with negative retained earnings of 650 million naira as at December 2015 ?
On average, 3.8 million naira was spent monthly on catering for staff. The company had an average of 199 persons employed within the year in 2015, according to information from its financial statements.Thus the monthly cost per head spent on catering to staff comes to about 19,556 naira per month. Nairametrics is of the opinion that the firm can spend its scarce resources in a more prudent manner, even if it must cater for its staff.