AXA Mansard Insurance Plc announced today that its shareholders have approved the company’s plan to sell its pension management subsidiary (AXA Mansard Pensions Ltd) and some undisclosed real estate investments.
A statement made available to the Nigerian Stock Exchange said the shareholders reached the resolutions during the company’s Extra-Ordinary General Meeting which took place on Thursday, February 13th, 2020.
In view of this, therefore, the company’s directors were authorised to appoint advisors and other professionals whose services are necessary towards facilitating the divestment. The statement, which was signed by the Company Secretary, Mrs Omowunmi Mabel Adewusi, said in parts:
“That subject to regulatory approval; the Directors be and are hereby authorized to divest from the following investment assets in furtherance of the objectives of the Company: a. AXA Mansard Pensions Limited. b. Real Estate Investment(s).
“That subject to regulatory approval; the Directors be and are hereby authorized to appoint such advisers, professionals, and parties that they deem necessary, upon such terms and conditions that the Directors may deem appropriate with regard to the aforementioned divestments.”
Note that AXA Mansard Insurance Plc did not give any reason for the reason to divest from the said ventures. However, Nairametrics understands that insurance firms in the country are trying to shore up capital from various means possible, in a bid to meet and beat the recapitalisation deadline set by the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM.
NAICOM announced the new recapitalisation requirement in May 2019 and gave them thirteen months to comply. The recapitalisation programme requires life insurance firms to meet a minimum paid-up capital of N8.0 billion, up from N2.0 billion previously. In the same vein, general insurance companies are required to raise their minimum paid-up capital to N10.0 billion from N3.0 billion previously.
The regulatory capital for composite insurance was raised to N18.0 billion from N5.0 billion previously while reinsurance businesses are now required to have a minimum capital of N20.0 billion from a previous N10.0 billion.
AXA Mansard Insurance Plc’s latest earnings report for FY 2019 showed a 29% increase in gross premium written to N43.6 billion, up from N33.9 billion in FY 2018. The company’s profit after tax for the period grew by 17% to N2.9 billion during the period, compared to N2.5 billion in FY 2018.
