The National Insurance Company (NIC) last Friday at its Walpole Street office in Freetown, during its Annual General Meeting, declared paying Le250m to the government as dividend.
In his presentation the chairman of the Board, Peter Kuyembeh, said the company pre-tax profit for 2006 was Le420,236m a modest 4.66% increase from 2005.
He said the directors consented that the same Le250m that was paid in 2005 should be paid again in 2006 because of some development projects.
At present, the company has acquired a land in Makeni for the construction of a branch office.
Also efforts are underway to do the same in Kono as the local authorities are hopeful that by the end of this year it will be finalized.
Speaking about the staff, the chairman said they were the most valuable assets as they still had all the professional staff and also the company was trying to make them happy.
Chairman Kuyembeh said last year the company sponsored three staff to a one-year residential middle management course at the West African Insurance Institute in Banjul, The Gambia. He said all of them were successful in their exams. Also some other staff attended external courses in Nigeria and Ghana.
The chairman, when speaking on the operations of the company, said the total underwriting amounted to L4.167bn compared to Le3.800bn in 2005, thus showing a 9.65% increase. Investment income decreased by 17.23% from Le345.083m in 2005 to L285.537m in 2006.
The Fire portfolio unfortunately converted a profit of Le202.209m in 2005 into a loss of Le12.772m in 2006. Marine recorded an increase in underwriting profit from Le60.281m in 2005 to Le144.161m.
Motor on the other hand, recorded an underwriting profit of Le371.490m in 2006 as against a loss of Le57.836m in 2005.
Miscellaneous accident also recorded an underwriting loss of Le43.784m in 2006 as against profit of Le144.110m in 2005.
The company’s net worth moved from Le9.729bn to Le10.696bn, an increase of 9.94%. The liquidity ratio was 2.92% indicating that the cash flow position remained fairly strong.
“The year 2007 will undoubtedly be challenging as 2006. Again the visible challenges of a national economy in transition will continue to have an impact on the company,” he noted.
The chairman thanked all the directors, management, staff and their valued customers for helping the company achieved its goal and hoped they would continue where they left in the coming years.
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