The Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited (ICBL) is reporting an $11 million profit for the quarter ended September 30.
The information was published in the company’s latest consolidated financial statements, in which shareholders were also told they would be paid a five cents per share dividend.
Chairman Joe Poulin said: “ICBL’s results for 2021 continue to be strong, as net income grew significantly to $11 million for the period ended September 30, 2021. In comparison, for the corresponding period ended September 30, 2020, net income was break even.
“As a result, earnings per share for the current year were 27 [cents] compared to [one cent] for the prior year, and return on equity stood at nine per cent in the current year. It is noteworthy that prior-year results were significantly impacted by fair-value losses of $3.1 million related to the investment property portfolio.”
Poulin said ICBL “continued to generate robust investment income in quarter three”.
“Investment returns of $6.8 million in the quarter increased total investment income to date to $11.6 million. These results were mostly driven by fair-value increases of the underlying investments,” he reported.
“With respect to the company’s insurance operations, gross premiums declined by 3.6 per cent, but claim costs in the current year improved by 9.2 per cent.”
The chairman said ICBL “has shown some resilience in the face of the economic uncertainty posed by COVID-19 during this period [and] has taken the opportunity to support charitable and non-profit organisations whose programmes suffered during this same time”.
The insurance company’s total assets were $372.3 million at the end of September, with cash and cash equivalents of $51.1 million and shareholders’ equity of $121.9 million.
“Based on this performance and the current economic outlook, the board of directors has declared an interim dividend of $0.05 per share. Going forward, the board will seek to provide its shareholders with a more consistent dividend policy,” Poulin said. (SC)
