SIC Insurance Plc, Ghana’s largest General insurer, has announced a dividend of 0.0153 per ordinary share, representing GH¢3million for the financial period ended December 31, 2020.
Notwithstanding the challenges faced by businesses due to the devastating happenings in 2020 as a result of COVID-19, the insurance giant achieved a gross written premium of GH¢242.1million at the end of the 2020 fiscal year as against the GH¢211.5million it recorded during the corresponding period in 2019. This represents a 14.4% performance over the result of 2019.
The Company’s 2020 Annual Report and Financial Statement declared profit before tax of GH¢28.3million with GH¢5.74million of the amount paid as Corporate Tax, GH¢7.29million paid as deferred tax and an additional GH¢719,711.00 as National Stabilization Levy. This brought the company’s profit after tax position to GH¢14.55million.
Board Chairman of the company, Dr Jimmy Ben Heymann, who announced this at the company’s annual general meeting held virtually on 14 December 2021, assured that while there will be much to consider in the coming year, the focus of the Board will be to continue the hard work and simplify the operations of the company, particularly through digital and technological innovation.
Managing Director of the company, Stephen Oduro, in his report observed that at the beginning of 2020, global economy had recorded its 10th uninterrupted growth so the general expectation was for this trend to continue for years ahead but within two months into the year the novel coronavirus shattered this expectation and brought about the steepest global recession in generations. The country witnessed partial lockdown, and on insurance front, social distancing led to minimal in-person interaction with customers.
“In response to the above challenges, there was the need to quickly switch to the use of digital means of communication with customers and allow some trusted individuals and corporate entities to partially pay for equivalent partial cover and also plan to win over policyholders after the pandemic or when things eased down,” he said.
Mr Oduro assured the company remains committed to ensure that its sustainability project is on course: “We are working hard to leverage all the investment we are pushing into our digitalisation programme. We will focus on developing winning partnerships and improve alternative distribution channels to deepen our reach.”
Reacting on the GH¢3million dividend to shareholders in an interview with the media, Mr Oduro was hopeful the company can sustain it and even do more in the future.
“SIC Insurance has come a long way and through hard work and dedication, we have stayed on course. At the beginning of every year, we set a goal for ourselves taking into consideration how we can satisfy the owners and shareholders,” he added.