By Kayode Tokede
Africa Prudential plc has reported five per cent increase in profit after tax to N1.08billion in its unaudited results for the half year (H1) ended June 30, 2020 as against N1.03billion reported in prior half year ended June 30, 2019.
The results submitted to Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday disclosed that Profit Before Tax rose marginally by one per cent to N1.22billion, compared to N1.21 billion in H1 2019
Revenue for the period dropped by seven per cent to N1.87billion in H1 2020 as against N2.01billion reported in H1 2019.
Africa Prudential explained that, “During the period under review, revenue from contracts with customers contracted by 32.12per cent year-on-year on the back of the effect of COVID-19 on the business landscape.
“This led to a 100 per cent drop in retainership fee in the first half of the year. However, the company was able to increase fees from corporate actions by 34.87 per cent, register maintenance by 32.81 per cent and digital consultancy by 94.33 per cent year-on-year.
“Also, a quarter-on-quarter analysis shows that the company has been able to improve revenue from fees from corporate actions by 1791.87 per cent and register maintenance by 171.39 per cent QoQ.”
From balance position, total liabilities closed H1 2020 at N14.97 billion, compared to N10.37bllion as at FY 2019 (44per cent YTD Increase) as Shareholders’ Fund stood at N7.92 billion, marginally declining by four per cent YoY from N8.28 billion as at FY 2019.
In addition, Africa Prudential’s total assets rose by 23 per cent to N22.89billion, compared to N18.65billion as at 2019.
The company explained that, “Total assets during the period under review appreciated 22.78 per cent year to date.
“This is on account of 163.84per cent increase in cash and cash equivalents, 146.16 per cent increase in trade and other receivables and 6.50 per cent rise in debt instrument at amortised cost.”
In a statement, the Managing Director/CEO of Africa Prudential, Mr. Obong Idiong, said, ”With the continued prevalence of Covid-19 in Q2, the global economy has been drastically affected by the impact of the pandemic as evident from the revision of the world economy growth rate projection from -3.0per cent to -4.9 per cent.
“Locally, Nigeria has not been exempted from the effect with the Finance Minister predicting a shrink of 8.9% in Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and possible recession in 2020. Our Q1 results showed the impact of the pandemic on our business, however we have been able to put in place structures to help us maximize the current business cycle.
“Through this structure we were able to achieve an impressive quarter-on-quarter results, increasing gross earnings by 52 per cent and PAT by 144 per cent. We were also able to deliver an improved result year-onyear, growing interest income and PAT by 12 per cent and five per cent respectively.
“As the company continues to observe safety measures to ensure the safety of staff and customers, we have enhance our virtual channels to meet the needs of our various categories of customers while reducing the need for physical visits significantly.
“We remain committed to sustaining and improving our service offerings to clients and creating superior value for our investors.
“As seen in our financials, we recorded some significant improvement in the growth of non-traditional sources of income as revenue from digital consultancy rose by 94 per cent year-on-year.”
He further added that, “At Africa Prudential, we are driven by the desire to continuously leverage technology to redefine value creation and provide exceptional experience to clients across our various touch points, while generating superior value for our investors.”
