LASACO Assurance grosses N4.4bn premium income

From left: Group Managing Director LASACO Assurance Plc,  Olusola Ladipo-Ajayi and Chairman, Ashim Oyekan at the event in Lagos.

 

Chuks Udo Okonta

LASACO Assurance Plc made a gross premium income of N4.4 billion in 2012 as against N3.9 billion recorded in 2011, the Acting Chairman, Ashim Oyekan, has said.

He disclosed this today Wednesday, at the firm’s 33^rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, adding that the firm recorded a growth of 11 per cent in gross premium income over the previous year.

Oyekan said the group also paid N1.3 billion claims in the year under review, an increase of N448 million over what was paid in 2011.

He noted that due to adjustments done in line with International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS), the group recorded a loss before tax of N180 million in 2012. He added that the group within the period grew its investment income by 34 per cent, stressing that this reflects the group strategic direction to leverage investment income as a key revenue source.

“The growth from N249 million in 2011 to N334 million in 2012, is the immediate positive reflection of the efforts to restructure the company’s investment portfolio despite the difficulty investment environment,” he said.

He said the in a bid to maximise the opportunities provided by Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the firm has initiated the move to partner Interswitch Limited to enable its customers avail themselves of services, through E-commerce, including payment real time online.

He maintained that the firm will continue to assess its service platform to ensure it conforms to best global standards and flexible to meet customer’s expectations.

Oyekan said the firm is poised to take advantage of the huge private investments in the power sector, adding that the overall strategy of the firm is to leverage its size and status, and channel investments into areas that will continue to ensure effective and efficient delivery of set goals.

“The huge private investments in the power sector are expected to stimulate and expand appreciably the domestic economy. The gains from this economic growth should trickle down to the common man, increasing his purchasing power and improving his standard of living.

“We expect that the healthy economic environment thus created will heighten awareness and demand for insurance. We will leverage our expertise to create insurance products that will meet all such needs.

“We expect that this retail segment of the insurance market that will be a blue ocean will drive our growth and open up the potentials of our company,” he added.