Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc has successfully hosted the 23rd Annual General Meeting of the company which was held on September 27, 2018, at the Grand Banquet Hall of The Civic Centre, on Ozumba Mbadiwe Road in Victoria Island, Lagos. Shareholders from all walks of life gathered to be part of what they described as the success story of a company that has not let them down despite the numerous challenges associated with insurance business in the country both at the micro and macro-economic space. Some of the shareholders attested to the fact that the company has shown a lot of resilience for it to have been able to stand the test of time and remain relevant amongst comity of insurance companies in the country.
The Head, Corporate Communications/Brand Management of the company, Mr. Segun Bankole shared this information while answering questions from journalists shortly after the event. The company, no doubt has every reason to appreciate all its shareholders for their implicit belief in the Board and Management of the Underwriting Firm that things could and can always get better.
Certainly, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc must have proved a lot of book makers wrong as the company continues to post impressive performance result year in, year out. The company recorded a Gross Premium Written of N8.5billion representing a 33% increase over the N6.3billion recorded in 2016. In the same vein, the company recorded a Profit Before Tax of N202million as against N44million recorded in year 2016 representing over 351% increase while profit after tax stood at N157million, a 569% increase when compared with the sum of N23million recorded in 2016.
The Managing Director of the company, Mr. Olaotan Soyinka has attributed the positive performance to the commitment shown by every member of staff who he described as the Drivers of the turnaround initiative coupled with the fact, that the company’s Management is also dedicated to ensuring that shareholders of the company get good returns on their investments.
It was based on this impressive and consistent growth trajectory that the shareholders under the Special Business at the Meeting, unanimously approved for the Board and Management to increase the authourised share capital of the company from N7.5billion to N10billion by the creation of 5,000,000,000 (five billion) ordinary shares of 50 kobo each ranking paripassu in all respects with the existing ordinary shares of the company. It was further authourised that the Directors can as well raise additional equity capital for the company up to the maximum limit of the authourised share capital, whether by way of Special Placement or Public Offer with or without a preferential allotment/or Rights Issue or a combination of any of them, either locally or internationally and upon such terms and conditions as the Directors may deem fit in the interest of the Company and subject to the approval of the Regulatory Authorities.
Another highpoint under the Special Business was that, “If in the event of over subscription of the offer/issue to capitalize the excess money and allot additional shares to the extent that can be accommodated by the Company’s unissued share capital subject to the approval of the Regulatory Authorities and that proceeds should be used for the same purpose as the offer/issue”.
No doubt, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc is unrelenting in becoming one of the country’s reliable and dependable underwriting firms as it continues to seek for ways in expanding its operational capacity with a strengthened capital base and a viable network of Branches across the country backed by real time, online technology.