Grapevine

Cornerstone Insurance reports almost threefold jump in half-year profit

Cornerstone Insurance recorded nearly thrice as much as the net profit it reported in the first half of 2023 in the same period of this year as the bottom line derived a substantial boost from foreign exchange, its newly issued financial report shows.

Shares in the company advanced significantly in early trading on the Nigerian Exchange, already 9.9 per cent up as of 11:09 West Africa Time. The maximum daily price appreciation allowed by the stock exchange is 10 per cent.

Insurance revenue, the main income source of the underwriter, climbed 75.5 per cent to N16.9 billion.

But it was on the net gain from foreign exchange, which more than doubled to N27.6 billion, that the strong performance was anchored, suggesting that other sectors within financial services apart from banking are also benefitting from the advantage that companies with assets in foreign currencies are reaping from the devaluation of the naira.

Two devaluation rounds between June last year and this January caused the rate of exchanging the naira for a dollar to rise sharply, allowing Nigerian companies holding investments that are denominated in foreign currencies to earn big income after such assets are converted into naira.