LASACO Assurance Plc has proposed to pay its shareholders a dividend of five per share for full-year 2018. The payment is subjected to shareholders’ approval in the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be announced later.
The proposed dividend indicates a marginal improvement over the four kobo per share the company paid its shareholders for the corresponding period in 2017. Further look into the company’s account indicated that LASACO’s Profit Before Tax (PBT) recorded a moderate increase from N854.273 million in 2017 to N958.199 million in the under review, representing a rise of 12 per cent, just as Profit After Tax (PAT) inched up from N661.878 million in 2017 to N736.279 million in 2018, an increase of 11 per cent.
However, Investment Income dipped by 14 per cent from N874.674 million posted in 2017 to N753.682 million in 2018. This implies that returns on LASACO’s investment in other businesses aside its core insurance business fell by 14 per cent.
Also, other income plunged significantly by 67 per cent from N576.425 million in 2017 to N190.525 million in 2018. Shareholders’ fund however, increased marginally from N8.156 billion in 2017 to N8.484 billion in 2018, signaling a four per cent increase.