Consolidated Hallmark to raise N735m new capital
Consolidated Hallmark
Shareholders will, at the meeting, formally give their approval to shore up the company’s capital through private placement of 1,130,000,000 units, at the price of 65 Kobo per share, which will bring N734.5 million to the coffers of the company.
The insurer will also seek formal approval of shareholders for the increase in authorised shares of the company, from the current 10,000,000,000 units of 50 Kobo par value per share, to 15,000,000,000 through the creation of an additional 5,000,000,000 units.
The share capital of the company will thus be increased from N5billion to N7.5 billion.
The company said these were part of the series of proactive efforts to boost the working capital of the company and adequately position it as a leading player in the underwriting of big ticket insurance transactions.
Already, it has successfully raised N500 million through the Rights Issue to existing shareholders of 1,000,000,000 units that recorded 108 per cent subscription during the last quarter of 2017, but concluded in the first quarter of 2018.
The Managing Director of the company, who is also the current president of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Eddie Efekoha, is optimistic of a very successful outing at the meeting, as shareholders of the company have often been delighted with the regular dividend payments over the years.
Out of 10 financial years that the company has been quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange(NSE), he said the insurer has paid out dividends seven times, amounting to a total of N1.22 billion.
Also, he added that the deployment of capital raised during the Rights Issue is impacting positively in results as noticeable in the impressive performance during the Nine Months Ended 30th September 2018.
Profit After Tax, according to him, rose significantly to N356 million from the N209 million recorded during the corresponding period of 2017 while Gross Premium Income rose to N5.4billion from the previous N4.5bilion.
CHI, he noted, has also been consistent in promptly meeting its claims payment obligations to customers, while over N11.7 billion has been expended on claims in the last five years, precisely from 2014 to September 2018. Of this amount, he said, over N4billion has been paid in 2018 alone.
Efekoha said the future plans of the company includes broadening of product offerings to take advantage of the on-going market development initiatives by the regulator and strengthening of technology to deepen footprints in the retail market, while delighting its existing corporate customers.
