By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Managing Director/CEO of Africa Prudential, Mr Obong Idiong, has attributed the poor performance of the company to some challenges, including the operating environment.
However, he said efforts are being made by the management to ensure things improve in the second quarter of the year. He said part of the strategies mapped out is planned foray into new ventures with high growth prospect, which he said should boost the company’s earnings.
In the unaudited financial statements of Africa Prudential for the period ended March 31, 2019, released yesterday, the company closed with a gross earnings of N869.4 million against N957.8 million a year ago, representing a decline of 9 percent.
Business Post, which analysed the results, found out that the Registrar’s interest income depleted by 19 percent to 595.5 million from N734.3 million as a result of the reduction in debt instrument coupled
with a decline in yield environment during the quarter under review, which saw a 51 percent drop in interest on T-Bills and 64 percent decline in interest on bonds.
For the company’s finance cost in Q1 2019, it significantly went down by 46 percent to N101 million from N186.3 million due to the full settlement of the outstanding bank loans which led to a reduction in interest paid within the quarter compared to the same period last year.
In the period under review, operating expenses increased by 25 percent owing to the growth experienced in personnel expenses and other operating expenses, both line items appreciated as a result of the formal establishment of some of the strategic business units (SBUs) to be launched later in the year with a view to ensuring efficiency in operation while obtaining superior returns from its operations.
It was revealed in the results that profit before tax dropped 16 percent to close at N453.7 million from N541.7 million, while the profit after tax fell to N381.5 million from N460.9 million, with the earnings per share staying at 19 kobo in contrast to 23 kobo of the same time of last year.
In his reaction to the company’s performance, Mr Idiong said, “While we were faced with some challenges which impeded our performance this past quarter, one of which was the declining yield environment thus mildly impacting one of our income line item- Interest Income.
“On the other hand, we saw a 23% increase in our revenue from contracts with customers which was as a result of the several corporate actions undertaken by many of our clients in view of their full year Annual General Meetings, dividend declaration etc. The management is however committed to improving upon our performance in the coming quarter following the launch of our strategic business units (SBUs), namely; Digital Technology, EasyCoop Mart and Cooperative business.
“To complement the traditional Registrar business, the benefits of the new business segments are expected to be felt from Q2 2019 going forward.”
He said further that, “The various strategic steps we have been taking is towards establishing us as the registrar of choice, while making foray into new ventures with high growth prospect, to do this we would be leveraging on technology, research & development as well as capacity building to ensure we achieve the aforesaid goals.
“We would continue to bring to bear, our doggedness whilst taking pragmatic steps towards tackling the arrays of issues plaguing us and our industry for a long time now.
“Going into the second quarter of 2019, we would not be resting on our oars as we would ensure we keep to our promise of delivering unique customer experience to our wide clientele base.”
Adedapo Adesanya