Zainab Iwayemi
The year 2020, for many businesses, was tough as it saw organizations going on compulsory lockdown as well as employees working from home. Despite this, Prestige Assurance recorded a 57 percent Profit After Tax (PAT) which translates into N246 million profit for the full year 2020. This was contained in its audited financial statement filed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE.
The financial statement shows that in the face of the global pandemic, the insurance provider showed great resilience as it improved it assets value by 40 percent from N13 billion recorded in 2019 to N18.5 billion in 2020. Also, it earns per share rose significantly in 2020 to 9.78 percent marking a 44 percent increase.
While the net premium income and interest income were valued at N3.4 billion and N422 million signifying an 8.9 percent and 5.8 percent rise during the fiscal year under study, other investment income, as well as other operational income, surged by 5.79 percent and 274.3 percent respectively to close at N240 million and 94 million.
Similarly, the underwriting expenses in the year 2020 was valued at N3.5 billion compared to the N3.2 billion recorded the previous year. This amount represents an 8.46 percent rise in total expenses for the period.
Reacting to the development, the company attributed the significant improvement to its efforts to meet up with the trend of the industry. “We have continued in our efforts to reduce the use of paper in our general operations. The use of e-mails, workflows, portals and other e-channels is encouraged as work tools for members of staff. Information to customers is sent electronically via text, phone calls and e-mails.” It said.
Importantly, it noted that while the advent of the Coronavirus cast doubts on the business prognosis for the year 2020, the declaration of lockdown which saw many of its employees working from home also triggered a rise in its online engagement.
“Upon declaration of total Lockdown with effect from 31st March 2020 which required the Company to run the operations remotely while the employees were advised to work from home (WFH). The Company thus far has continued to ensure the services running smoothly with an adequate level of monitoring and assessment, which include daily activity tracking and online briefing on the state of affairs regularly,” It said
Meanwhile, based on the prescription of the pandemic, the insurance firm is considering adopting a ‘work from home’ model as it is believed would improve the working structure. “We are of the opinion that a change in business model and our approach to work would be developed further as there are a number of benefits to the organization and staff in having an environment where people are enabled to work from home”
