Law Union grows profit by 157% in third quarter

Sunday Ojeme
Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc has recorded a profit growth of 156.87 per cent in its unaudited financial accounts for the third quarter ended September 30 2007. The insurance firm reported a pre-tax profit of N700.89m, an improvement compared with the total profit of N272.85m recorded in the corresponding period of 2006.
A statement on Saturday said the profit resulted from a gross written premium of N2.01bn, representing an increase of 94.7 per cent over the total earnings of N1.03bn achieved in the corresponding period of the preceding year.
The statement said the company’s nine-month turnover of N2.01bn was more than its 2006 full year turnover of N1.33bn by 51 per cent. The company’s net premium income in the nine months under reference was N1.85bn as against N854.28m recorded as at September 2006.
The product lines that contributed principally to the huge volume reported were motor business, N403.1m; fire, N338.4m; engineering, N223.20m; and goods in transit, N102.66m.
The company reported improvement in all its health indicators, which is consistent with its performance record in the last four years.
The statement attributed the bullish performance of Law Union & Rock in recent years to the process upgrade and overall re-engineering of the company which started in 2004. The company has posted impressive numbers following the implementation of the turnaround project. The run is expected to be enhanced by the recent release of the offer proceeds of 2006 to the 49 insurance companies, including Law Union and Rock, cleared to operate in the industry as successfully recapitalised companies.
According to the statement, the release of the money held in escrow account at the Central Bank of Nigeria in the last one year means an inflow of more than N2.5bn into the company’s vault.
The statement added that with a capital base of more than N5bn, the company was well positioned to play in the big league in the Nigerian insurance market.
The statement said, “The company is striking up alliances at home and abroad to position itself for bigger market challenges. It is one of the six Nigerian underwriters that recently formed the First Energy Insurance Consortium which was officially unveiled in Lagos on November 16 2007. The consortium is targeted at big insurable risks in the oil & gas sector.”
Law Union’s stock traded above N4 at the close of business in the week ending November 23.