The NGX Insurance sector powered through 2025 with an impressive return of 65.64%, outperforming the broader All-Share Index, which gained 51.19%.
Tracked by its index, the sector gained 471.3 points, rising from 719.9 to close at 1,189.3 points and decisively breaking the 1,000-point barrier.
Only the NGX Consumer Goods sector posted a stronger performance, returning 129.57%.
Even so, 2025 was a solid year for insurance stocks, although it fell short of the sector’s exceptional 123% return in 2024, while Consumer Goods delivered 54% last year.
On a month-to-date basis, August emerged as the strongest month in 2025, advancing 44.30%.
The surge was largely driven by a positive market reaction to President Tinubu’s signing of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025, which promises stronger consumer protection, improved capital adequacy, and overall sector stability.
August’s rally pushed H2 2025 to become the year’s strongest half, up 57.42%, with the third quarter emerging as the standout period, rising over 57%.
This sector-wide performance was driven by strong gains in individual insurance stocks. Below are the top 10 performers behind the rally.
Linkage Assurance Plc ranked seventh after generating an 81% return in 2025. The stock climbed from N0.98 to N1.78, with over 3.5 billion shares traded.
A strong start saw the shares gain 16.95% in January to N1.15. A brief pullback in February was followed by consecutive monthly gains through June, pushing the price to N1.28 and delivering a 30.51% gain in the first half.
The rally gathered pace in H2, with July and August producing the bulk of gains.
- In August, the stock broke above N2, closing at N2.25 after a 55% surge.
A correction set in from September, pulling the price down to N1.72 by November, before a modest December rebound lifted it to N1.78 at year-end.
For the nine-month period, insurance revenue rose to N19.2 billion from N16.4 billion. Received premiums declined to N21.5 billion from N24.0 billion, while claims fell 12% to N4.02 billion. The company has a market capitalization of N33.2 billion.
