By Emmanuel Enitan
Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc’s profit after tax rose by 86.5 per cent to N3.046 billion in 2025 from N1.634 billion in the preceding year, despite marginal growth in gross premiums and declines in insurance revenue and total assets, highlighting the mixed performance confronting underwriters in Nigeria’s insurance market.
The company’s Chairman, Babatunde Irukera, disclosed this at its 49th Annual General Meeting in Abuja, where he said profit before tax recovered to N3.156 billion from a loss of N1.485 billion in 2024.
Gross premiums written edged up marginally to N23.733 billion from N23.694 billion, while shareholders’ equity increased by 27 per cent to N15.173 billion from N11.917 billion, reflecting an improvement in the company’s capital position.
However, insurance revenue fell by three per cent to N22.602 billion from N23.330 billion, while total assets declined by 9.6 per cent to N29.877 billion from N33.060 billion during the period.
Irukera attributed the performance to the company’s resilience amid a challenging economic environment, adding that successful recapitalisation under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025 had strengthened its capital base and underwriting capacity.
He said the stronger capital position would enable the company to compete more effectively, take on larger and more complex risks, and maintain the required standards of corporate governance and financial stability.
The chairman expressed appreciation to shareholders for their support during the recapitalisation exercise, adding that the company would use its strengthened capital base, workforce and management experience to pursue growth opportunities and improve returns.
Shareholders at the meeting commended the company’s leadership for navigating prevailing economic challenges. Although no dividend was declared, they welcomed the successful recapitalisation and the payment of claims during the year.
The company’s performance comes as Nigeria’s insurance industry adjusts to higher minimum capital requirements introduced under NIIRA 2025, which raised the thresholds to N10 billion for life insurers, N15 billion for non-life operators, N25 billion for composite insurers and N35 billion for reinsurers.
The recapitalisation drive is intended to strengthen insurers’ capacity to absorb losses, underwrite larger risks and improve their financial resilience. However, Veritas Kapital’s results illustrate why capital adequacy must be assessed alongside premium growth, insurance revenue, asset quality and the ability to generate sustainable underwriting profits.
For the industry, the next challenge is to convert stronger capital positions into expanded business, improved risk selection and more competitive products, rather than relying on capital injections alone to sustain profitability.
The marginal increase in Veritas Kapital’s gross premiums, alongside the decline in insurance revenue, also points to the importance of examining the quality and sustainability of business growth as insurers reposition themselves following recapitalisation.
Ultimately, the durability of the company’s improved earnings will depend on its ability to sustain profitable underwriting, manage claims and operating costs, and translate its stronger equity position into consistent returns for shareholders and dependable protection for policyholders.
