Africa Prudential Plc has announced its Unaudited Financial Statements for the half-year period ended June 30 2020, with a Gross Earnings of N1.87 billion and Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N1.22 billion. The Company delivered an Earnings Per Share of 54Kobo.
A year-on-year comparison between H1’ 2019 and H1’ 2020 reveals the following: Revenue from contracts with customers: 590million, compared to N870million in H1 2019 (32percent YoY decline).
Interest Income: N1.28 billion, compared to N1.14 billion in H1 2019 (12percent YoY increase).
Gross Earnings: N1.87 billion, compared to N2.01 billion in HY 2019 (7percent YoY decline); Profit Before Tax (PBT): N1.22 billion, compared to N1.21 billion in H1 2019 (1percent YoY increase); Profit After Tax: N1.08 billion, compared to N1.03 billion in H1 2019 (5percent YoY increase); Earnings Per Share: 54kobo, compared to 51kobo in H1 2019.
A Quarter-on-Quarter (QoQ) analysis between Q1 2020 and Q2 2020 results indicates the following: Revenue from contracts with customers: N460million, compared to N130million in Q1 2020 (249percent QoQ Increase); Interest Income: N670million, compared to N610billion in Q1 2020 (10percent QoQ increase); Gross Earnings: N1.13 billion, compared to N740million in Q1 2020 (52percent QoQ increase); Profit Before Tax (PBT) N900million, compared to N410million in Q1 2020 (117percent QoQ increase); Profit After Tax: N840million, compared to N340million in Q1 2020 (144percent QoQ increase); Earnings Per Share: 42kobo, compared to 17kobo in Q1 2020.
Shareholders’ fund stood at N7.92billion, marginally declining by 4percent YoY from N8.28billion as at FY 2019.
Revenue from contracts with customers: During the period under review, revenue from contracts with customers contracted by 32.12percent year-on-year on the back of the effect of COVID-19 on the business landscape.
This led to a 100percent drop in retainership fee in the first half of the year. However, the company was able to increase fees from corporate actions by 34.87percent, register maintenance by 32.81percent and digital consultancy by 94.33percent 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 1791.87percent and register maintenance by 171.39percent QoQ.
Interest income: On the other hand, the company recorded a 12.45percent year-on-year increase in interest income driven by a 30.47percent rise in interest income on loans and advances, and 158.88percent surge in interest income on bonds despite the 45.29percent reduction in interest income from treasury bills and 87.20percent decline in interest on short-term deposits due to the poor yield environment.
Profit After Tax: Despite the effect of the pandemic on the business environment, Africa Prudential was able to deliver a PAT increase of 5.34percent year-on-year on the back of 12.45percent increase in its interest income, 5.77percent decline in operating expenses and 100percent reduction in Finance cost.
Comparing HY 2020 to FY 2019, the following were observed in the Balance Sheet: Total Assets: Africa Prudential’s total assets during the period under review appreciated 22.78percent year to date. This is on account of 163.84percent increase in cash and cash equivalents, 146.16percent increase in trade and other receivables and 6.50percent rise in debt instrument at amortised cost.
Total Liabilities: Total liabilities surged 44.47percent owing to 45.72percent increase in customers’ deposits, 204.61percent increase in creditors and accruals, and 21.17percent increase in current income tax payable. Shareholder’s Wealth: The Shareholders’ wealth declined by 4.37percent due to payment of N1.4billion dividends during the year.
Commenting on the result, the Managing Director/CEO of Africa Prudential, 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 -3percent to -4.9percent. Locally, Nigeria has not been exempted from the effect with the Finance Minister predicting a shrink of 8.9percent in Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and possible recession in 2020. Our first-quarter (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 52percent and PAT by 144percent. We were also able to deliver an improved result year-onyear, growing interest income and PAT by 12percent and 5percent respectively.
As the company continues to observe safety measures to ensure the safety of staff and customers, we have enhanced 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 94percent year-on-year”, he stated.
Idiong further noted 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.”
