**As Ashade Formally Hands Over
By Dipo Olowookere
Mr Peter Ashade on Monday formally handed over the mantle of leadership to his successor at Africa Prudential Plc, Mr Obong Idiong.
The formal handing over ceremony, which was a farewell dinner, was held at the Muson Centre in Onikan, Lagos with some bigwigs in the financial market gracing the occasion.
Mr Ashade stepped for Mr Idiong after 12 years of meritorious service. He could not hide his excitement for being celebrated for his giant strides at Africa Prudential while he headed the leading share registrar service provider.
Chairman of Africa Prudential, Mrs Eniola Fadayomi, who was present at the ceremony organised to honour Mr Ashade, commended him for his selfless service to the firm.
She said the outgoing chief executive would be greatly missed, but expressed optimism that Mr Idiong will live up to expectation.
Also speaking at the event, Chairman of the United Bank of Africa (UBA), under which the company was carved out, Mr Tony Elumelu, thanked Mr Ashade for transforming a ‘mere’ department of the UBA to a strong and formidable company in the financial sector.
He also said Mr Idiong would not fall below expectation, especially with the standard the outgoing CEO had set for the firm.
In his remarks, Mr Ashade thanked the board, management and staff of Africa Prudential Plc for the support they gave him while in office. He expressed confidence that Mr Idiong will not disappoint as he steers the ship of the company. “Congrats to Obong as you lead the company to greater heights,” he said at the emotional farewell dinner.
On his part, Mr Idiong, who admitted that the job before him was enormous, promised to take the firm to greater heights.
“I look forward to building on this legacy [set by my predecessor] as we continue to deliver Africa Prudential to the future with the support of everyone,” he stated.
Africa Prudential Plc was formerly a department in UBA Group, but it grew to a full-fledged registrar company, becoming the first registrar firm in the country to be listed in the stock exchange.
In its 2017 financial statements, the firm posted a profit after tax of N1.72 billion in 2017 against N1.02 billion in 2016.
In addition, the firm recorded a 37.10 percent growth in its gross earnings to N3.32 billion from N2.42 billion in the corresponding period of 2016.
Furthermore, the company’s total assets closed at N21.93 billion as at December 31, 2017 in contrast to N16.82 billion as at December 31, 2016.
During the period under review, #AfricaPrudential increased its shareholders’ fund by 52.49 percent to N6.94 billion from N4.55 billion in 2016.
Business Post reports that as at the close of transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday, the share price of Africa Prudential was N4.05k per share.
Adedapo Adesanya