Zenith General Insurance Limited has released its full-year financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019. A review of the results showed positive improvements on a year-on-year basis with profit before tax rising by 16% from N3.16 billion to N3.67 billion while profit after tax rose by 10% up from N2.79 billion to N3.06 billion. The company also maintained a robust balance sheet closing the year with total assets of N40.1 billion and a shareholders’ fund of N25.9 billion.
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Gross premium grew by 17% year-on-year from N13.7bn to N16.1 billion, while there was a 46% growth in underwriting profit from N2.77 billion to N4.06 billion. The company made substantial gains from reduced claim expenses and healthy growth in gross written premiums.
Investment income showed an increase of 2% year on year, up from N3.55 billion in 2018 to N3.63 billion in 2019 despite lower yields on most investment classes in 2019.
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Commenting on the financial results, the Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Kehinde Borisade said “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% year-on-year on total assets, and a 4% 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%”.
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Zenith Insurance is one of Nigeria’s leading insurance institutions. The company 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 N3 billion to N10 billion.