By Dipo Olowookere
It is almost certain that shareholders of Axa Mansard Insurance Plc will receive cash reward this year for owning stocks of the company.
Last Friday, the board of directors of the organisation held a meeting where this issue of dividend payment to investors was discussed.
The board, in its wisdom, concluded that the shareholders deserve to get something from what the company earned in the financial year ended December 31, 2020.
However, this dividend payment is still subject to the approval of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), an agency which regulates the insurance industry in Nigeria.
Cash rewards, especially for sectors that are well-regulated like insurance and banking are always approved by the regulators before they are officially announced to the investing public.
A check by Business Post on the 5-year dividend history of Axa Mansard Insurance showed that for the 2014 fiscal year, the underwriter paid its shareholders a cash reward of 5 kobo per unit of the stocks held by them.
The next year, it reduced it to 4 kobo per unit and in 2016, it was further cut to 2 kobo per share and in 2017, it was raised to 6 kobo per unit and in 2018, it slightly went up to 7 kobo each.
In the 2019 accounting year, no dividend was paid and in 2020, the company wants to pay something to shareholders for their loyalty to the organisation. But the amount would be announced upon receipt of the regulatory authorisation.
During the board meeting held last week, the financial statements and accounts of the company together with the directors and auditor’s reports for the financial year ended December 31, 2020, were approved and forwarded to NAICOM for approval.
It was agreed that, “That upon receipt of the approval of NAICOM, the audited financial statements and accounts should be filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)” and a summary of the results published for public consumption.
