In the 2022 financial year, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc, a member of the AXA Group and a global insurance and asset management firm reported a 15 per cent improvement in gross revenue to N69.0 billion from N60.2 billion.
This was driven by a 49 per cent surge in Life and Savings (L&S) at N13.8 billion and a 22 per cent increase in the health insurance segment of the business at N27.7 billion, while the Property and Casualty (P&C) were down by 3 per cent to N27 billion mainly caused by a deliberate selection of risks to drive profitability.
In the same period, the company recorded a 24 per cent growth in net premium income to N46.1 billion from the N37.1 billion posted in the 2021 fiscal year.
However, the underwriting firm posted a 42 per cent decline in its profit before tax and a 35 per cent fall in the profit after tax in the period under review at N300 million.
According to the Chief Financial Officer of AXA Mansard Insurance Plc, Mrs Ngozi Ola-Israel, this was due to the higher claims experience in the health portfolio and fair value losses on the investment property.
But she stressed that the insurer delivered strong double-digit growth in the top line of the financial results “Despite the macroeconomic challenges the business faced in the 2022 financial year.”
Mrs Ola-Israel noted that Axa Mansard Insurance has remained focused on its growth plan across business lines.
“We made significant recoveries in the second quarter of 2022, with the health business moving from break-even to closing with profits of N0.3 billion at the end of the year.
“We have taken all necessary steps to strengthen our balance sheet and have set the right platform for continued profitability in 2023,” she added.
Highlights of the results showed that P&C went down in the year owing to one-off impacts regarding a non-renewable transaction and a change in the timing of the booking of another transaction in the CL P&C portfolio. It also dropped because of the non-recurrence of premiums from commercial lines, which declined by 6 per cent to N24.7 billion from N26.3 billion due to shortfalls in the Engineering and marine portfolios, while oil & energy remained flat. The engineering dip was driven by one-off unrenewable transactions in the prior year.
It was observed that last year, Life volume acceleration increased due to the fast onboarding of the new life savings product, while Health volumes improved as a result of increased premiums and renewals for key commercial line clients.
The L&S business recorded an improved performance in the group life (+20%) and individual life businesses (+107%). The life and savings business has experienced strong customer retention, and sales drive from the launch of the new life savings product.
Overall, improved agent productivity and digital footprint also contributed to the revenue growth, as the total revenues improved by 18 per cent, with higher management fees benefiting from improved 3rd party assets under management.
AuMs for corporate clients grew 51 per cent as client count grew by 21 per cent, leading to a 16 per cent growth in 3rd party AuMs and a 6 per cent growth in total AuMs.
Axa Mansard Insurance said it was committed to improving performance through an improved distribution network, process automation, and client retention.
“We have remained market leaders in the health segment with a strong focus on providing excellent customer experience while partnering with health providers.
“Growth in P&C (+23%) versus LY is attributable to improved net premium income, investment income, and reduced claims. L&S grew 448 per cent due to improved revenue performance, investment income, and a strong drive for operational efficiency,” the company said.
