Mr. Ebose Augustine, MD/CEO, Anchor Insurance Company Limited

Anchor Insurance Company Limited said that it recorded a gross premium written of N4.2 billion for the 2019 financial year.

The company stated that it has recorded gross premium of N5.1 billion in 2020 year to date.  

Speaking with insurance correspondents in Lagos, the Managing Director of the Company, Mr. Augustine Ebose, stated that despite the effect of Covid-19 pandemic on business operations, Anchor Insurance was still able to achieve the result, noting that its production would have been above N7 billion by now if the pandemic had not set in.

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Ebose said: “We started the year well and from all our efforts and aggressive marketing, it was clear we were going to hit at least N7 billion by mid-year 2020 but for the pandemic since March which has made the insuring public to review their insurance budgets downwards.

“Despite the Covid-19 challenges, we have surpassed the N4.2 billion premium income we wrote in 2019 and as at second week of this month of August, our performance stood at N5.1 billion,” stating that for the remaining months in the year, he was sure the company will raise this result to a greater figure.

Responding to how the Company has been doing its marketing since the advent of Covid-19, Ebose explained that “It was like at Anchor Insurance, we foresaw this pandemic period when we invested in most modern information technology to drive our business.

“So, it was not difficult for us to continue to navigate the insurance market using what we had already put in place and it has really helped in ensuring we never suffered any panic in this era of doing business differently,” he noted.

Ebose explained that the Company whose 2019 accounts has been approved by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and the Annual General Meeting (AGM) accordingly fixed for September 4^th, 2020 is not looking back at pushing up its premium income and attending to genuine claims requests with utmost concern.

He hinted further that the company was strongly pursuing its recapitalization in line with the order of the National Insurance Commission, noting that Anchor Insurance was recapitalizing without any merger plan to retain its brand identity.

“As for the recapitalization ordered by our regulator, our Board of Directors does not want anything that will alter the company’s identity. It is, therefore, our resolve to recapitalize alone as Anchor Insurance Company Limited. We do not have plans for now to acquire any company that might not be meeting up with the recapitalization requirements but we can buy over their policy portfolios where the need arises,” he explained.

Highlighting the Company’s performances in 2019, he disclosed that Anchor Insurance recorded N4.2 billion premium income as against N3.4 billion in 2018, achieved a profit after tax of N220.2 million, up from N163.8 million in 2018. The company also paid claims of N929.6 million, up from N816.9 million paid in the corresponding period of 2018.