Cynthia Ezekwe
Prestige Assurance Plc, a general business underwriter in Nigeria, recorded a profit after tax (PAT) of N2 billion in the first quarter of 2024, driven by foreign exchange gains of N1.8 billion, beating the full-year profit of N1.3 billion it posted in 2023.
The company’s interim financial report for the first quarter ended March 2024 shows that insurance revenue declined slightly year-on-year at a little over N4 billion while the insurance service cost grew by 4.5 per cent to N2.9 billion in the period.
The financials reveal that foreign exchange gains have been the key driver of the company’s profitability with a net inflow of N821 million, contributing to the significant results.
While the investment arm of the company was relatively moderate at N320 million at the end of the first quarter, foreign exchange gains multiplied total investment income by seven times, reaching N2.1 billion.
The company closed the first quarter operations with pre-tax profit jumping from less than N285 million in the same period last year to N2.1 billion at the end of March 2024 and after-tax profit advancing from N264 million it recorded in the first quarter of 2022 to N2 billion.
The financials also noted that the previous year’s insurance service expenses claimed N12.3 billion of the N13.5 billion insurance service revenue. Reinsurance expenses claimed N598 million of the insurance service result of N1.2 billion, leaving net insurance service result slightly down at N618 million.
The company closed the first quarter operations with earnings per share of 15 kobo against 2 kobo per share in the same quarter the previous year.
Prestige Assurance also surpassed last year’s profit in Q1 2024, driven by record foreign exchange gains that exceed 2023 figures. With promising prospects for additional gains, the company is poised for an outstanding 2024, building on its already impressive start.
