Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc has reported an all-time high Gross Premium Written (GPW) of N9.77 billion which represents a 12 percent percent growth in the financial year ended December 31, 2020 compared with N8.69 billion in the same period of 2019.

Mr. Obinna Ekezie, Chairman, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc told shareholders at the 26th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the underwriter in Lagos that the Net U n d e r w r i t i n g I n c o m e also g r e w f r o m N5.46 billion in 2019 to N6.5 billion in 2020 while claims expenses jumped by 21 percent from N3.45 billion in 2019 to N 4.17 billion in 2020, an affirmation of the company’s commitment to c o nt i nu a l ly m a i nt a i n its s t e r l i n g reputation of ensuring that customers get value through prompt payment of all valid claims.

Ekezie added that CHI Plc also recorded a modest growth of 8.6 percent in Profit Before Tax which moved from N711 million during the preceding year to N772 million in 2020, while Profit After Tax increased to N677.98 million from N600.31 million in 2019. In the same vein, the total assets increased by 22 percent, from N11.74 billion to N14.31 billion in the year under review.

The CHI Chairman said: “We are quite hopeful that as the environment becomes more conducive for operators, coupled with the injection of additional capital and improved drive towards awareness creation, we will record improve d performance. The years ahead are indeed bright as we leverage on our continued expansion as a one stop insurance and other financial services provider through our subsidiaries in H e a l t h Maintenance , A s s e t s Management and the coming on stream of our Micro Life Assurance arm.”

Mr. Eddie Efekoha, Group Managing Director/CEO of CHI Plc was emphatic that the company is continually committed towards meeting its claims obligations to its numerous customers, hence the increase in claims payment from N3.44 billion in 2019 to N4.17 billion in 2020, a 21 percent jump.

“I am pleased to inform shareholders and other stakeholders that we regularly settle all fully documented c l a i m s a h e a d o f t h e d e a d l i n e stipulated by regulators, and do not have a single unsettled claim in our books which is overdue. While increasing claims settlement is not a bad development, it could also r efl e c t t h e n e e d f o r i m p r ove d underwriting measures to isolate bad risks and reward good ones. We have t h e r e f o r e a d o p t e d e n h a n c e d underwriting measures to enhance operational efficiency and customer service.”

On the future outlook, Efekoha said: “Your company has now evolved fully into a One-Stop-Shop for the provision of Insurance and Other Financial Services with our operations in G e n e r a l I n s u r a n c e , M i c r o L i f e Assurance, Health Maintenance and Assets Leasing and other forms of Financing. Our outlook about the future remains very bright and we foresee an increasing positive contribution of the subsidiaries – Grand Treasurers Limited, Hallmark HMO, and recently CHI Micro-Insurance to the overall results of the Group.”

Consolidated Hallmark Insurance (CHI) Plc is a leading general business insurance company positioned to change the public perception of insurance in Nigeria.

‘With the help of our people and technology, we ensure we are there for our customers when they need us most because our primary objective is to deliver exceptional service to you, our customer.’

 ACCESS released its audited H1-21 interim financial report earlier today, which showed that the bank recorded significant earnings growth supported by the core income segment. Improvements in the bank’s funded business has continued to outperform its counterparts and deviate from the pattern recorded in the year thus far, even its non-core earnings settled relatively weaker on a year-on-year basis. Despite the aforementioned and the even higher operating expenses, the growth in funded income was enough to drive a substantial expansion in the bank’s bottom-line, resulting in an EPS of NGN2.42 (+40.7% vs H1-20). The board has proposed an interim dividend of NGN0.30/share (+20.0% from the NGN0.25/share in H1-20).  

The bank recorded an interest income growth of 29.6% y/y to NGN319.73 billion in the period, supported by impressive growth in income from investment securities (+78.6% y/y to NGN132.19 billion), loans & advances to banks (+18.3% y/y to NGN7.95 billion) and loans & advances to customers (+8.6% y/y to NGN174.43 billion). The expansions in these lines were enough to offset the decline in income from cash and balances with banks (-4.1% y/y to NGN5.17 billion). This performance was driven by a combination of rising yields on fixed income securities and strong growth in risk assets creation (+11.3% to NGN3.58 trillion).

Interest expense declined marginally by 0.7% y/y to NGN119.67 billion, supported mainly by the moderation in interest expense on deposits from customers (-11.1% y/y to NGN56.77 billion). The reduced expense on deposits from customers neutered the impact of the increases in borrowings (+73.2% y/y to NGN21.61 billion) and debt securities issued (+7.2% y/y to NGN10.14 billion). Consequently, cost of funds moderated to 2.9% vs 3.7% in H1 2020, despite the 6.9% year-to-date increase in interest-bearing liabilities.

Non-interest income declined by 16.5% y/y to NGN115.90 billion as losses on investment securities, particularly non-hedging derivatives (-NGN23.25 billion vs gain of NGN134.85 in H1-20) and decline in other operating income (-44.5% y/y to NGN16.45 billion) offset the growth in income from foreign exchange trading (+200.3% y/y to NGN68.20 billion) and fees and commissions (+44.7% y/y to NGN58.73 billion). Despite the weaker non-funded income growth, funded income growth was substantial enough to lead to a growth in operating income (+15.6% y/y).

Operating expenses increased by 8.9% y/y to NGN189.80 billion during the period, following higher regulatory costs and inflationary pressures. Save for other operating expenses (-3.9% y/y to NGN74.64 billion), all other lines recorded spikes – NDIC premium (+32.2% y/y to NGN9.96 billion), personnel expenses (+20.3% y/y to NGN43.60 billion), AMCON levy (+17.1% y/y to NGN41.51 billion) and non-cash charges (+15.7% y/y to NGN20.08 billion). Nonetheless,  the bank’s cost-to-income ratio (after accounting for LLEs) improved to 66.1% from 70.1% in H1-20, given the higher year-on-year expansion in operating income relative to opex.

Overall, the bank recorded a profit before tax growth of 31.2% y/y to NGN97.50 billion consequent on the strong gross earnings growth. However, profit after tax settled 42.4% higher y/y at NGN86.94 billion, given the lower income tax expense (-20.4% y/y).

World Bank: Africa Can’t Meet 10% COVID-19 Vaccination Target by Sept

At its third meeting, the Multilateral Leaders Taskforce on COVID-19 (MLT) – the heads of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organisation and World Trade Organisation -met with the leaders of the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), Africa CDC, Gavi and UNICEF to tackle obstacles to rapidly scale-up vaccines in low- and lower middle-income countries, particularly in Africa, and issued the following statement:

“The global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is progressing at two alarmingly different speeds. Less than 2% of adults are fully vaccinated in most low-income countries compared to almost 50% in high‑income countries.

These countries, the majority of which are in Africa, simply cannot access sufficient vaccine to meet even the global goals of 10% coverage in all countries by September and 40% by end 2021, let alone the African Union’s goal of 70% in 2022.

This crisis of vaccine inequity is driving a dangerous divergence in COVID-19 survival rates and in the global economy. We appreciate the important work of AVAT and COVAX to try and address this unacceptable situation.

However, effectively tackling this acute vaccine supply shortage in low- and lower middle-income countries, and fully enabling AVAT and COVAX, requires the urgent cooperation of vaccine manufacturers, vaccine-producing countries, and countries that have already achieved high vaccination rates. To ensure all countries achieve the global goals of at least 10% coverage by September and 40% by end-2021:

We call on countries that have contracted high volumes of vaccines to swap near-term delivery schedules with COVAX and AVAT.

We call on vaccine manufacturers to immediately prioritise and fulfill their contracts to COVAX and AVAT, and to provide regular, clear supply forecasts.

We urge G7 and all dose-sharing countries to fulfill their pledges urgently, with enhanced pipeline visibility, product shelf life and support for ancillary supplies, as barely 10% of nearly 900 million committed doses have so far been shipped.

We call on all countries to eliminate export restrictions and any other trade barriers on COVID-19 vaccines and the inputs involved in their production.

We are in parallel intensifying our work with COVAX and AVAT to tackle persistent vaccine delivery, manufacturing and trade issues, notably in Africa, and mobilise grants and concessional financing for these purposes.

We will also explore financing mechanisms to cover future vaccine needs as requested by AVAT. We will advocate for better supply forecasts and investments to increase country preparedness and absorptive capacity. And we will continue to enhance our data, to identify gaps and improve transparency in the supply and use of all COVID-19 tools.

The time for action is now. The course of the pandemic—and the health of the world—are at stake.

Hello Rasheed.

Good day sir.

Due to incessant complaints by bank customers, we initiated a Special Report/Investigation on ALLEGED Pilfering/Illegal Deductions by Banks 30 days ago to verify the claim/allegation that banks usually remove certain amount from bank accounts without the knowledge of customers and/or justification/transaction.

To achieve the objective of the Report, we sent out two staff members to interview customers at various bank branches in the past 30 days.

A good number of the customers complained about Polaris Bank.

NB:

1: We are liasing/networking with the CBN on the Official List of CBN-Authorised/Approved Deductions on Individual & Corporate Accounts as part of the Report

2: The key objective of the Report is to bridge the yawning communication/awareness gap between banks and customers on the issue of deductions (legal/illegal) and raging complaints/allegations of pilfering/stealing by bank customers

3: We expect the Report to create better understanding between banks and their customers on deductions

We need official response from Polaris Bank for the Special Report.

Expecting.

Thanks.

Prince Cookey

Business Journal

08023088874

[email protected]

However, considerable uncertainty remains over sizable COVID-19-related claims reserves, which will take years to develop. Risk in general has become more difficult to model and price, and therefore, reinsure.

A higher share of uninsurable risks, considered either non-measurable, non-manageable or systemic, in a more connected world increasingly dominated by intangible assets, could translate into a smaller role for the reinsurance industry.