2017 results: Continental Reinsurance reports fall in profits

Continental Reinsurance recently released its results for the financial year ended December 2017.

Gross premium written increased from N22.4 billion in 2016 to N29.6 billion in 2017.

Underwriting profit nearly tripled from N414 million in 2016 to N1.2 billion in 2017. Profit before tax, however, fell from N4.6 billion in 2016 to N3.5 billion in 2017.

Earnings per share fell slightly from N0.28 in 2016 to N0.27 in 2017. The company, however, declared a dividend of N0.14 per share, unchanged from the previous year. This amounts to a 50% payout ratio.

FX gains have dropped
Bumper foreign exchange gains present in 2016 have tapered off. Foreign exchange gains fell from N4 billion in 2016 to N1.1 billion in 2017. The naira witnessed a much smaller devaluation in 2017 compared to the previous year.

Conti Re has operations in several African countries outside Nigeria. Net foreign exchange gains on reinsurance receivables thus fell from N2.1 billion in 2016 to N385 million in 2017.

Underwriting profit is up
The massive rise in underwriting profit, however, made up for the decline in FX gains. Underwriting profit tripled from N414 million in 2016 to N1.2 billion in 2017.

The increase in underwriting profit was largely due to the non-life insurance segment returning to profitability. The non-life segment made a profit of N1 billion in 2017 compared to a loss of N936 million in 2016

Continental Reinsurance Plc was incorporated as a private limited liability company on July 24th, 1985 and converted to a public limited liability company on March 27th, 2000. It commenced business as a general reinsurer in January 1987 and became a composite reinsurer in January 1990.

The company is a pan-African reinsurance company operating in more than 50 African countries with 4 regional offices in Lagos (Nigeria), Douala (Cameroon), Abidjan (Cote D’Ivoire), Tunis (Tunisia) and 2 subsidiaries in Nairobi (Kenya) and Gaborone (Botswana).

C-Re Holdings holds a 65% stake in the firm, while the rest is held by Nigerian institutional and retail investors. C-Re Holdings is ultimately controlled by Saham Finance.