SIC Insurance Plc to pay GH¢3m dividend to shareholder

SIC Insurance Plc has earmarked to pay dividend of 0.0153 per ordinary share to its shareholders.

This translates to a total of GH¢3 million 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 company achieved a gross written premium of GH¢242.1 million at the end of the 2020 fiscal year as against the GH¢211.5 million it recorded during the corresponding period in 2019.

This represents a 14.4 per cent performance over the result of 2019.

The company’s 2020 Annual Report and Financial Statement declared profit before tax of GH¢28.3 million with GH¢5.74 million of the amount paid as corporate tax, GH¢7.29 million paid as deferred tax and an additional GH¢719,711.00 as National Stabilisation Levy.

This brought the company’s profit after tax position to GH¢14.55 million.

The Board Chairman of the company, Dr Jimmy Ben Heymann, who announced this at the company’s annual general meeting held virtually on December 14, gave an assurance that while there would be much to consider in the coming year, the focus of the board would be to continue the hard work and simplify the operations of the company, particularly through digital and technological innovation.

Uninterrupted growth

The Managing Director of the company, Mr 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 that expectation and brought about the steepest global recession in generations.

He said the country witnessed partial lockdown, and on the 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 gave an assurance that the company remained committed to ensure that its sustainability project was 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,” he said.

On the GH¢3 million dividend to shareholders, Mr Oduro in an interview with the media said he was hopeful the company could sustain it and even do more in 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 said.