The African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) has earmarked an initial $2.5 million in payments to its shareholders which include 14 African member governments.
The approved dividend is the first ever payment made to shareholders, the agency declared at its recently held general assembly in Abidjan, where the company also announced its record-breaking 2017 financial results for the sixth consecutive year.
According to a statement from the agency, ATI key 2017 results reveal profit grew 55 percent to $9.9 million on a comparable basis.
Gross written premiums was up 52 percent to $44.8 million, shareholders’ equity rose 16 percent to $242.2 million while net earned premiums appreciated nine percent to $14.0 million.
The agency also got its outlook revised by S&P from “negative” to “stable” on 16 March, 2018, to show ATI is currently rated A/Stable.
George Otieno, the company’s CEO, noted: “We have been planning for this moment for several years and I am happy to finally announce that we are ready to give something back to our shareholders. This signals our intention to continue showing value to our member governments and shareholders, while providing non-member countries and institutional investors an incentive to join.”
In 2017, ATI recorded gross exposures of $2.4 billion and, in the same period, the company covered investment and trade activities across the continent valued at $10 billion. ATI also posted a $10 million profit representing a 55 percent increase over 2016.
ATI owes its strong results in part to growing demand from investors and African governments for their products as the continent continues to position itself as an attractive destination for investors. Africa’s drive to increase trade within its borders is also fuelling ATI’s success.
The African multilateral insurer also announced the government of India’s $10 million shareholding, which will be represented by ECGC, India’s export credit agency.
Other financial metrics of the agency’s 2017 year show volume of business supported since inception improved 40 percent to $35 billion with a combined ratio of 62 percent, which grew by 11pps on a comparable basis.
On insured ttrade and investments, gross exposures increased 23 percent to $2.4 billion and a 4.6 percent return on capital which improved 1.5pps was recorded.
