By Kennedy Kangethe
British American Investment Company (Britam) has issued a circular to shareholders on the proposed acquisition of a 99 percent equity stake in Real Insurance Company Limited disclosing the price as Sh1.4 billion with Sh825 million in cash and Sh550 million in share consideration.
The shares are priced at Sh11.13, some 75 trading days preceding the share purchase agreement resulting in the issuance of 51.9 million shares.
The Extraordinary General Meeting to approve the deal is slated for February 19, 2014, with the transaction expected to be complete by 31 March 2014.
In determining the acquisition, Britam considered the strong positioning of Real Insurance in non-life insurance, long operational history and customers that comprise leading corporates in Kenya.
They also considered the growth prospects given the presence of the firm in promising frontier markets such as Mozambique, Tanzania and Malawi.
Real Insurance is considered a pioneer in the Kenyan insurance sector having started operations in 1910. It offers insurance services through its 15 branches located in Nairobi and other major towns in Kenya as well as three subsidiaries in Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. The firm is also a global network partner of RSA (formerly known as Royal and Sun Alliance Insurance Group).
Through this acquisition Britam should increase its market share and after completion, rank second in the market on gross premium basis.
The acquisition is also seen as a first step in the consolidation of the highly fragmented insurance industry with Kenya having 47 licensed insurance companies competing for a limited market characterized by low penetration.
The satisfactory completion of this transaction will enable Britam to implement its strategy of expanding its general insurance business and diversifying its presence into key geographical areas that include some of the most promising growth frontier markets in Africa.
Source allAfrica
Tuesday, 28 January 2014
Monday, 27 January 2014
Anchor makes N420m profit
ByNike Popoola
Anchor Insurance Company Limited has announced that its profit after tax rose to N420m in the 2012 financial period from N56.86m a year earlier.
The company said in a statement on Sunday that its accounts had been approved by the National Insurance Commission.
It added that the total asset grew by 7.62 per cent from N4.2bn in 2011 to N4.52bn in the period under review, while the shareholders’ fund increased by 5.4 per cent from N3.7bn a year earlier to N3.9bn in 2012.
The statement said the gross premium grew by 73 per cent to N1.9bn from N1.1bn in 2011, adding that net insurance claims of N230.5m was paid in 2012 as against the N183.6m paid in the previous year.
The Managing Director, AIC, Mr. Mayowa Adeduro, said the board and management was committed to sustaining the performance and would continue to ensure the provision of customer friendly and valuable insurance products and services through the use of highly motivated employees and cutting edge technologies to deliver prompt and quality services to its stakeholders.
Source Punch
Anchor Insurance Company Limited has announced that its profit after tax rose to N420m in the 2012 financial period from N56.86m a year earlier.
The company said in a statement on Sunday that its accounts had been approved by the National Insurance Commission.
It added that the total asset grew by 7.62 per cent from N4.2bn in 2011 to N4.52bn in the period under review, while the shareholders’ fund increased by 5.4 per cent from N3.7bn a year earlier to N3.9bn in 2012.
The statement said the gross premium grew by 73 per cent to N1.9bn from N1.1bn in 2011, adding that net insurance claims of N230.5m was paid in 2012 as against the N183.6m paid in the previous year.
The Managing Director, AIC, Mr. Mayowa Adeduro, said the board and management was committed to sustaining the performance and would continue to ensure the provision of customer friendly and valuable insurance products and services through the use of highly motivated employees and cutting edge technologies to deliver prompt and quality services to its stakeholders.
Source Punch
Mutual Benefits opens Niger Republic subsidiary
By Nike Popoola
Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc has acquired a licence to operate a subsidiary in Niger Republic under the name, Mutual Niger.
According to a statement from the firm on Saturday, the Group Managing Director, Mutual Benefits Assurance, Mr. Akin Ogunbiyi, disclosed this during the firm’s 18th annual thanksgiving service in Lagos.
Mutual Benefits said the new company commenced operation on January 2 this year, following an approval by the country’s insurance regulator.
Ogunbiyi said the decision to go to Niger Republic was in furtherance of the company’s expansion plan, which is targeted at enhancing shareholders’ value, and the desire to emerge as a competitive force within the African market.
He stated that Mutual Benefits realised the growth potential in Niger Republic following its discovery of several mineral resources in commercial quantities, and decided to take position to be part of the growing economy.
"If you look at a recent World Bank report, Niger has been identified as going to be the fastest growing economy in the West African sub-region in the next few years. Niger, you will recall, had in the last four to five years discovered minerals; not just discovering them, but in commercial quantities, and has become a centre of attraction for most investors in the Western world," he stated.
Ogunbiyi said it was not difficult getting the operational licence because of Mutual Benefit’s pedigree, which he noted had been tested in Cameroon, where it operates a partnership.
The managing director said the firm had proven itself as a company with integrity, professionalism, dynamism and leadership, because it picked a company that was down, and in less than three years, it moved to the top position in the Cameroon market.
"I can tell you that Mutual Benefits of last year is not the Mutual Benefits of today. The company today boasts a staff strength of 5,000 and a growth of 40 per cent in all indices in the 2013 financial year."
"In 2013, we actually recorded about 40 per cent growth in all indices," he said.
Source Punch
Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc has acquired a licence to operate a subsidiary in Niger Republic under the name, Mutual Niger.
According to a statement from the firm on Saturday, the Group Managing Director, Mutual Benefits Assurance, Mr. Akin Ogunbiyi, disclosed this during the firm’s 18th annual thanksgiving service in Lagos.
Mutual Benefits said the new company commenced operation on January 2 this year, following an approval by the country’s insurance regulator.
Ogunbiyi said the decision to go to Niger Republic was in furtherance of the company’s expansion plan, which is targeted at enhancing shareholders’ value, and the desire to emerge as a competitive force within the African market.
He stated that Mutual Benefits realised the growth potential in Niger Republic following its discovery of several mineral resources in commercial quantities, and decided to take position to be part of the growing economy.
"If you look at a recent World Bank report, Niger has been identified as going to be the fastest growing economy in the West African sub-region in the next few years. Niger, you will recall, had in the last four to five years discovered minerals; not just discovering them, but in commercial quantities, and has become a centre of attraction for most investors in the Western world," he stated.
Ogunbiyi said it was not difficult getting the operational licence because of Mutual Benefit’s pedigree, which he noted had been tested in Cameroon, where it operates a partnership.
The managing director said the firm had proven itself as a company with integrity, professionalism, dynamism and leadership, because it picked a company that was down, and in less than three years, it moved to the top position in the Cameroon market.
"I can tell you that Mutual Benefits of last year is not the Mutual Benefits of today. The company today boasts a staff strength of 5,000 and a growth of 40 per cent in all indices in the 2013 financial year."
"In 2013, we actually recorded about 40 per cent growth in all indices," he said.
Source Punch
LASPEC urges workers to update knowledge about pension
The Lagos State Pension Commission has urged workers in the state to equip themselves with adequate knowledge about the pension system in order to prepare for their physical, emotional and financial well-being in retirement.
This, according to the commission, is in order for the workers to be in a better position and frame of mind to have a comfortable and rewarding life when they are no longer in paid employment.
The Director-General, LASPEC, Mr. Rotimi Hussain, said this during the fifth retirement seminar for workers who were about to retire from the state’s civil service.
He said, "The seminar was designed to further broaden their knowledge on how best to prepare for their retirement and access their retirement benefits under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
"This is in recognition of the general observation that many workers are still finding it difficult to fully understand the operations of the scheme; hence, the need for stakeholders to continually update their knowledge."
Hussain said the commission saw the need to enlighten the workers on the procedures for processing their end of service benefits; how to monitor and ensure that their Retirement Savings Accounts were up to date with payment of the statutory monthly contributions; and also highlight the two exit options provided by the state’s Pension Reform Law, 2007.
The options are the programmed withdrawal provided by the Pension Fund Administrators, and the annuity for life provided by the insurance companies.
He urged the soon to be retired workers to educate themselves on living healthy in retirement and making good investment decisions.
The LASPEC boss said the CPS was recording huge milestone in Lagos State.
He said reports emanating from the industry showed that 28 states in the country had yet to fully subscribe to the CPS, while only six out of 21 state governments that had enacted laws on it remitted N26.17bn into the RSAs of their workers registered under the scheme.
"Statistics from the National Pension Commission also show that Lagos State has continued to remit the highest figure," he noted.
According to him, 3,900 ex-workers of Lagos State are presently enjoying their retirement under the CPS.
"As at the ninth batch of our retirement bond certificate presentation ceremony, the RSAs of the said retirees have, between October 2010 and November 2013, been credited with a sum of N21.49bn," Hussain said.
Source Punch
Premium PFA adopts five-year growth strategy
Premium Pension Limited, one of the Pension Fund Administrators in the country, has said it is drawing strategies to consolidate the gains it has made and position the firm to reap from the anticipated growth in the industry in the next five years.
The Head, Corporate Communications, Premium Pension, Mr. Paddy Ezeala, said this in a statement made available on Sunday.
The Chairman, Premium PFA, Alhaji Aliyu Dikko, said the firm commenced the plan to establish and nurture a company with a vision to be the leading PFA in Nigeria and a global player in July 2008.
He was quoted as saying, "Our mission is to achieve superior customer satisfaction in active and retirement life through best practices defined and driven by our core values of care, integrity, transparency, ethics and professionalism.
"Our performances to date, when placed in juxtaposition with the strategy we developed in 2008, reveals a mixed bag of areas where the benchmark were not attained and areas where targets were exceeded."
He stated that the strategy defining exercise had the principal objective of leading the firm to its set vision and mission by defining ways of developing a strong investment management policy with state of the art investment management tools that would produce superior returns to the clients.
Dikko restated the need to consolidate on the company’s zero tolerance for non-compliance and further sharpen the risk management policy and best practices in internal control processes and procedures.
The Managing Director, Premium Pension, Mr. Wilson Ideva, noted that the firm was already occupying an enviable position in the industry and had the potential to be unassailable with the right strategies.
"The competition in the industry is becoming stiffer and the environment is throwing up tasking challenges," he said.
According to him, the company’s actual performance grew from N52.3bn in 2008 to N325.7bn in 2013.
Ideva noted that the actual assets under management surpassed the 2008 strategic plan projections for four of the five years, while the performance over budget ranged from a low of N276m to a high of N19.7bn.
Source Punch
The Head, Corporate Communications, Premium Pension, Mr. Paddy Ezeala, said this in a statement made available on Sunday.
The Chairman, Premium PFA, Alhaji Aliyu Dikko, said the firm commenced the plan to establish and nurture a company with a vision to be the leading PFA in Nigeria and a global player in July 2008.
He was quoted as saying, "Our mission is to achieve superior customer satisfaction in active and retirement life through best practices defined and driven by our core values of care, integrity, transparency, ethics and professionalism.
"Our performances to date, when placed in juxtaposition with the strategy we developed in 2008, reveals a mixed bag of areas where the benchmark were not attained and areas where targets were exceeded."
He stated that the strategy defining exercise had the principal objective of leading the firm to its set vision and mission by defining ways of developing a strong investment management policy with state of the art investment management tools that would produce superior returns to the clients.
Dikko restated the need to consolidate on the company’s zero tolerance for non-compliance and further sharpen the risk management policy and best practices in internal control processes and procedures.
The Managing Director, Premium Pension, Mr. Wilson Ideva, noted that the firm was already occupying an enviable position in the industry and had the potential to be unassailable with the right strategies.
"The competition in the industry is becoming stiffer and the environment is throwing up tasking challenges," he said.
According to him, the company’s actual performance grew from N52.3bn in 2008 to N325.7bn in 2013.
Ideva noted that the actual assets under management surpassed the 2008 strategic plan projections for four of the five years, while the performance over budget ranged from a low of N276m to a high of N19.7bn.
Source Punch
Insurers scramble to handle call volume for health care policies
Three weeks into the new year, new health policies under the Affordable Care Act are becoming a reality for millions of Americans, whether they wanted them or not.
Now, as they sort out the complexities, that means lots of calls and lots of time on hold.
Last week, dozens of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan customers — saying they’ve been overbilled, placed on policies they didn’t want, and then put on hold for too many hours when they try to straighten things out — took to Facebook to complain.
When Blue Cross posted a picture of cookies Thursday on its Facebook page urging consumers to eat healthier, the response was immediate:
"Instead of posting pictures of food, please, please answer the phone," wrote one customer.
And in response to a post about the health benefits of taking a vacation? "Need to use my vacation time just for hours of holding ..."
Ed Harden, a spokesman for Flint-based McLaren Health Plan, called it a "call tsunami."
It’s not just the volume of calls — it’s doubled at McLaren, Harden said — it’s the length of them as consumers sort out the details of new policies, according to Harden and officials from other insurers.
Some policyholders had never purchased insurance before health reform policies became available late last year. They’re still trying to understand the basics. Others are sorting out the details of new policies that replaced old ones.
"We’re seeing anywhere from 35 to 45 minutes" a call, Harden said.
Insurers say they’re trying to help customers understand new policies under health reform. They’ve hired extra staff, set up special websites and extended office hours.
Before health reform, Blue Cross took about 4,000 calls a week from consumers who purchased plans on the individual market. Those calls had climbed to about 40,000 a week by mid-December, just before the deadline for signing up for coverage on the Michigan Health Insurance Marketplace that would be effective in January, said Helen Stojic, a Blues spokeswoman.
In fact, the highest call volume for enrollment was Christmas Eve — the day after the original federal deadline for purchasing policies that were effective Jan. 1, said Kirk Roy, who oversees health reform law for Blue Cross.
Both Grand Rapids-based Priority and Detroit-based Health Alliance Plan also reported a big boost in calls.
Many are consumers wanting to make sure they are enrolled or asking about payment processes. Those who signed up for policies on the marketplace through www.healthcare.gov were sent bills and asked to mail payment, said Priority spokeswoman Amy Miller.
"It’s ‘Is my invoice on the way?’ and ‘Did you get my payment yet?’ " Miller said.
There also is lingering confusion at the marketplace and about enrollment dates and when coverage is effective.
And insurers say many consumers purchased the plan with the least expensive premium and now are surprised at higher-than-expected deductibles and co-pays.
Meanwhile, enrollment both on and off the marketplace continues for most people until March 31.
The Blues may be dealing with the largest onslaught of calls. It’s not only the state’s largest insurer, it’s the only one offering plans on the state’s online marketplace in every Michigan county.
Plus, in order to make sure customers did not lose coverage, some customers were "transitioned" — automatically enrolled — into the Blues’ Keep Fit plan, a special plan that was extended through 2014, Stojic said.
Customers who don’t want the Keep Fit policy need not pay, she said. Blue Cross also will provide a refund to those who are enrolled in two plans "because they were transitioning and the records did not catch up," Stojic said.
Mark Gilman, a 55-year-old Clarkston marketing consultant, was among the more than 140,000 Michiganders who last year were told their policies were being canceled because they didn’t meet the requirements of health reform. After checking out his options, he chose a policy with another insurer, he said.
But he recently received $1,200 in bills from Blue Cross for the policy he said he was told was being canceled.
He called Blue Cross several times, was placed on hold, and then disconnected, leaving him with the impression "not only can we not help you, but we’ll probably never be able to help you," he said.
Then early Thursday, a break: Blue Cross called at 8:30.
Not only did Blue Cross tell Gilman he would no longer get bills for a policy he never wanted, "they’re sending me a refund of 20 cents for some overpayment last year," he said with a laugh.
"Apparently, Facebook angst is the best way to get a response," he said.
Contact Robin Erb: 313-222-2708 or rerb@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/FreepHealth.
Source Free Press
Now, as they sort out the complexities, that means lots of calls and lots of time on hold.
Last week, dozens of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan customers — saying they’ve been overbilled, placed on policies they didn’t want, and then put on hold for too many hours when they try to straighten things out — took to Facebook to complain.
When Blue Cross posted a picture of cookies Thursday on its Facebook page urging consumers to eat healthier, the response was immediate:
"Instead of posting pictures of food, please, please answer the phone," wrote one customer.
And in response to a post about the health benefits of taking a vacation? "Need to use my vacation time just for hours of holding ..."
Ed Harden, a spokesman for Flint-based McLaren Health Plan, called it a "call tsunami."
It’s not just the volume of calls — it’s doubled at McLaren, Harden said — it’s the length of them as consumers sort out the details of new policies, according to Harden and officials from other insurers.
Some policyholders had never purchased insurance before health reform policies became available late last year. They’re still trying to understand the basics. Others are sorting out the details of new policies that replaced old ones.
"We’re seeing anywhere from 35 to 45 minutes" a call, Harden said.
Insurers say they’re trying to help customers understand new policies under health reform. They’ve hired extra staff, set up special websites and extended office hours.
Before health reform, Blue Cross took about 4,000 calls a week from consumers who purchased plans on the individual market. Those calls had climbed to about 40,000 a week by mid-December, just before the deadline for signing up for coverage on the Michigan Health Insurance Marketplace that would be effective in January, said Helen Stojic, a Blues spokeswoman.
In fact, the highest call volume for enrollment was Christmas Eve — the day after the original federal deadline for purchasing policies that were effective Jan. 1, said Kirk Roy, who oversees health reform law for Blue Cross.
Both Grand Rapids-based Priority and Detroit-based Health Alliance Plan also reported a big boost in calls.
Many are consumers wanting to make sure they are enrolled or asking about payment processes. Those who signed up for policies on the marketplace through www.healthcare.gov were sent bills and asked to mail payment, said Priority spokeswoman Amy Miller.
"It’s ‘Is my invoice on the way?’ and ‘Did you get my payment yet?’ " Miller said.
There also is lingering confusion at the marketplace and about enrollment dates and when coverage is effective.
And insurers say many consumers purchased the plan with the least expensive premium and now are surprised at higher-than-expected deductibles and co-pays.
Meanwhile, enrollment both on and off the marketplace continues for most people until March 31.
The Blues may be dealing with the largest onslaught of calls. It’s not only the state’s largest insurer, it’s the only one offering plans on the state’s online marketplace in every Michigan county.
Plus, in order to make sure customers did not lose coverage, some customers were "transitioned" — automatically enrolled — into the Blues’ Keep Fit plan, a special plan that was extended through 2014, Stojic said.
Customers who don’t want the Keep Fit policy need not pay, she said. Blue Cross also will provide a refund to those who are enrolled in two plans "because they were transitioning and the records did not catch up," Stojic said.
Mark Gilman, a 55-year-old Clarkston marketing consultant, was among the more than 140,000 Michiganders who last year were told their policies were being canceled because they didn’t meet the requirements of health reform. After checking out his options, he chose a policy with another insurer, he said.
But he recently received $1,200 in bills from Blue Cross for the policy he said he was told was being canceled.
He called Blue Cross several times, was placed on hold, and then disconnected, leaving him with the impression "not only can we not help you, but we’ll probably never be able to help you," he said.
Then early Thursday, a break: Blue Cross called at 8:30.
Not only did Blue Cross tell Gilman he would no longer get bills for a policy he never wanted, "they’re sending me a refund of 20 cents for some overpayment last year," he said with a laugh.
"Apparently, Facebook angst is the best way to get a response," he said.
Contact Robin Erb: 313-222-2708 or rerb@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/FreepHealth.
Source Free Press
Third of insurance claims fraudulent
Thirty percent of all 2013 insurance claims were estimated to be fraudulent -- an amount totalling about R15 billion, the Sunday Times reported.
Pressure, opportunity and rationalisation" as well as "a sense of entitlement" were some of the reasons South Africans were submitting in false claims, the SA Insurance Crime Bureau executive director Michiel Nel told the newspaper.
The bureau suggested that of all the claims submitted in 2013 --estimated to cost R50b -- approximately one third were thought to be fraudulent.
Audit and forensics head at Santam, Helen du Toit, told the Sunday Times that while people considered issuing false claims as "socially acceptable" and "not as serious as other crimes", in fact, submitting bogus claims could have legal and criminal repercussions.
Source The Sunday Times
Pressure, opportunity and rationalisation" as well as "a sense of entitlement" were some of the reasons South Africans were submitting in false claims, the SA Insurance Crime Bureau executive director Michiel Nel told the newspaper.
The bureau suggested that of all the claims submitted in 2013 --estimated to cost R50b -- approximately one third were thought to be fraudulent.
Audit and forensics head at Santam, Helen du Toit, told the Sunday Times that while people considered issuing false claims as "socially acceptable" and "not as serious as other crimes", in fact, submitting bogus claims could have legal and criminal repercussions.
Source The Sunday Times
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