Board Chairman of Ghana Reinsurance Company (Ghana Re), Mr George Otoo, has said the company has positioned itself to meet its claims and other financial obligations despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses including the insurance sector.

Speaking at Ghana Re’s annual general meeting on Thursday, he said, the company had put in place prudent management practices backed by technology to ensure growth and stability.

“Ghana Re as part of measures to ensure business continuity and profitability, has activated its Business Continuity Plan and accelerated the company’s information technology infrastructure upgrade,” he stated.

Mr Otoo added that “with a good retrocession arrangement and prudent management practices, the company was well positioned to meet its claims and other financial obligations”.

The Board Chairman stressed that the board was committed to the Group’s steady growth and would continue to exercise its oversight mandate to ensure profitability of the company.

Mr Otoo assured that Ghana Re would employ and continually improve on its technical expertise and information technology systems to enhance the turnaround time for service delivery.

“In addition, the company will seek to capitalise on its strong financial base and unblemished reputation to increase acceptances of non-traditional insurance products, forge strategic partnerships and position the company in the face of growing competition,” he stressed.

Mr Otoo said the company had been resolute and this year paid, a dividend of GH¢0.18 per share amounting to GH¢9.00 million to the Government of Ghana, the sole shareholder of the company.

He said Group’s composite (Life and General Business) gross premium income for 2019 was GH¢253.37 million, representing a growth rate of 23.2 per cent over the GH¢205.66 million recorded in 2018 while General Business premium income for the year was GH¢230.85 million and that of Life stood at GH¢22.52 million.

“Management expenses recorded for the same period was GH¢41.43m as against GH¢43.20 million in year 2018, representing a decrease in the management expense ratio from 21.9 per cent in year 2018 to 19.7 per cent in year 2019,” he added.

“Profit before tax for the period was GH¢40.80m, representing 23.1% decrease on the figure of GH¢53.03m for 2018, while profit after tax was GH¢30.16m as against GH¢38.63m in 2018. The dip in profit was attributed to higher than expected claims in 2019,”he stressed.

The Board Chairman said Ghana Re had donated an amount of GH¢100,000 to the COVID-19 National Trust Fund in April to support the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.

A government representative, Mr Andrews Kwesi Frimpong commended the board, management and staff of the company for the remarkable performance for the 2019 financial year.

He urged them to continue working hard to perform better in the 2020 financial year and beyond by implementing all the measures they had put in place to remain resolute.