CORRECTED: Linkage Assurance Declares N290m Loss in 2018

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

In the 2018 financial year, Linkage Assurance Plc found itself in an unpleasant situation, recording a loss after tax of N290.1 million against a profit after tax of N2.9 billion declared in the 2017 business year.

The insurance company, which released its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), said its profit before tax reduced significantly to N134.7 million from N3 billion in the same period of 2017, indicating a 96 percent decline.

This was attributed to the increase in claims and underwriting expenses and a drop in investment income caused by a decline in dividend income.

Linkage Assurance said it received N1.1 billion as 2017 dividend income in 2018 from Stanbic IBTC Pension Limited, lower than the N2.5 billion received in 2017 business year for a combination of 2015 and 2016 dividend incomes.

However, there was a significant improvement in the gross premium written of the firm, which grew by 31 percent to N5.4 billion from N4.1 billion. The company explained that the GPW was mainly boosted by the oil and gas sector.

A further look into the financial results indicated that gross premium income appreciated by 18 percent to N4.9 billion from N4.2 billion, while the net premium income rose to N3.5 billion from N2.8 billion.

But the company printed an underwriting loss of N772.5 million against the underwriting profit of N456.9 million in 2017, representing a 269 percent drop.

Also, the investment and other income depreciated to N2.1 billion from N3.4 billion.

Linkage Assurance, on October 7, 1993, was licensed to cover and transact non-life insurance businesses in Nigeria. The company said on its website that it has a reputation for prompt and accurate service delivery, efficiency and customer satisfaction.