Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc has successfully hosted the 23rd Annual General Meeting of the company which was held on September 27, 2018, at the Grand Banquet Hall of The Civic Centre, on Ozumba Mbadiwe Road in Victoria Island, Lagos. Shareholders from all walks of life gathered to be part of what they described as the success story of a company that has not let them down despite the numerous challenges associated with insurance business in the country both at the micro and macro-economic space. Some of the shareholders attested to the fact that the company has shown a lot of resilience for it to have been able to stand the test of time and remain relevant amongst comity of insurance companies in the country.
The Managing Director of the company, Mr. Olaotan Soyinka has attributed the positive performance to the commitment shown by every member of staff who he described as the Drivers of the turnaround initiative coupled with the support provided by the shareholders over the years.
The company recorded a Gross Premium Written of N8.5billion representing a 33% increase over the N6.3billion recorded in 2016. The Net Claims Expenses in 2017 was N1.3billion which is a 9.5% improvement over the sum of N1.44billion recorded in 2016 because of efficient claims management. In the same vein, the company recorded a Profit Before Tax of N202million as against N44million recorded in year 2016 representing over 351% increase while profit after tax stood at N157million, a 569% increase when compared with the sum of N23million recorded in 2016. Consequently, the Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) recorded a positive performance of 1.87% as against 0.47% achieved in the corresponding year of 2016. The investment income also rose by 41.6% from N286million in 2016 to N406million in 2017. In addition, the company’s total assets rose from N9.5billion to N10.8billion representing 13.7% increase.
Rising from the 23rd Annual General Meeting of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, the Shareholders have given approval to the Board and Management of the company to inject fresh capital with a view to positioning the organization for the challenges of the future and in response to the ever-evolving dynamics of the marketplace.
The confidence of the Shareholders was buoyed by the impressive and consistent growth trajectory of the Underwriting Firm in recent times amidst the various economic and industry-based challenges. The shareholders under the Special Business at the Meeting, unanimously approved for the Board and Management to increase the authourised share capital of the company from N7.5billion to N10billion by the creation of 5,000,000,000 (five billion) ordinary shares of 50 kobo each ranking paripassu in all respects with the existing ordinary shares of the company.
It was further authourised that the Directors can as well raise additional equity capital for the company up to the maximum limit of the authourised share capital, whether by way of Special Placement or Public Offer with or without a preferential allotment/or Rights Issue or a combination of any of them, either locally or internationally and upon such terms and conditions as the Directors may deem fit in the interest of the Company and subject to the approval of the Regulatory Authorities.
Another highpoint under the Special Business was that, “If in the event of over subscription of the offer/issue to capitalize the excess money and allot additional shares to the extent that can be accommodated by the Company’s unissued share capital subject to the approval of the Regulatory Authorities and that proceeds should be used for the same purpose as the offer/issue”.
No doubt, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc is unrelenting in becoming one of the country’s reliable and dependable underwriting firms as it continues to seek for ways in expanding its operational capacity with a strengthened capital base and a viable network of Branches across the country backed by real time, online technology.