Business
Lasaco Assurance turns tide on half-year loss, helped by cost efficiency
Composite insurance underwriter Lasaco Assurance has turned the corner on the N731.5 million half-year loss it logged in the first six months of last year, which heralded its first annual loss in thirteen years during the financial year 2025.
The insurer, in the last mile of a recapitalisation deadline in the Nigerian insurance industry that expires this month, recorded N384.9 million in the year to June, compared with a year ago, according to its latest corporate report published Friday.
Its return to profitability owed less to revenue growth than to cost-cutting. Insurance revenue, its core income source, retreated by 3.2 per cent from the half-year 2025 level to N16.3 billion.
That happened following a slide in the cash its general business insurance contract brings to the pool.
Lasaco Insurance cut back insurance service expenses by 17 per cent, and it also reduced net expenses from reinsurance contracts by 11.4 per cent; both were key factors that drove insurance service results to N3.1 billion from N1.1 billion a year ago.
Investment result was less impressive, dropping 13.4 per cent to N1.6 billion, owing to a decline in interest revenue calculated using the effective interest method.
The financial services company earned less in interest terms from fixed deposits and much less from bonds during the period.
It incurred a net foreign exchange loss of N67.9 million, compared with the N58.1 million gain recorded in the same period last year, hurting net investment results.
One other dark spot in the broadly strong result was a plunge in other operating income to N33.3 million from N246.1 million. Operating expenses, up by 9.2 per cent, rose to N4.2 billion from N3.8 billion.
Profit before tax stood at N436.2 million, compared to a pre-tax profit of N518.1 million one year prior, while post-tax profit came to N384.9 million, relative to a net loss of N731.5 million in the corresponding period of last year.
ALSO READ: Lasaco Assurance Plc appoints new managing director
Nigeria’s latest round of insurance industry recapitalisation, which concludes this month, requires life insurance businesses to scale up their minimum paid-up capital from N2 billion to N10 billion and non-life insurers from N3 billion to N15 billion.
Composite insurance firms have also been set a minimum threshold of N25 billion, up from N5 billion.
From its recently concluded rights issue, the underwriter raised N19.3 billion, which it said has passed capital verification with the National Insurance Commission and has received confirmation of admissibility from the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission.
NGX Insurance Index, the equity index that tracks the performance of Nigeria’s most capitalised and liquid insurance stocks, has been up by 23.8 per cent since President Bola Tinubu signed the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act on 4th August 2025.
BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), has revoked the certificate of registration for Royal Exchange Prudential Life Insurance PLC over its failure to meet the statutory minimum capital requirement under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025.
The cancellation, which took effect on Plc August 3, 2026, The regulator also ordered the immediate winding up of the firm’s operations.
The action was executed under the legal powers granted to the regulatory authority by the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIRA) 2025.
According to a notice signed by Deputy Commissioner (Technical) Decent Jankara, titled “Notice Of Cancellation Of Certificate Of Registration Of Royal Exchange Prudential Life Insurance Plc”, the regulator appointed Titilayo Akinlawon (SAN)as Receiver and Provisional Liquidator to oversee the winding up of its affairs.
The notice added that “The appointed Receiver is mandated to take control of the company’s affairs, liquidating its assets and settling its outstanding liabilities in strict accordance with NIRA 2025 regulations and extant insurance guidelines.”
“Relevant stakeholders and financial institutions have been instructed to cooperate fully with the Receiver during the official takeover and winding-up proceedings.”
This development comes days after NAICOM announced the completion of the insurance sector recapitalisation exercise and published a list of 43 insurance and reinsurance companies that met the July 31, 2026 compliance deadline.
The post Recapitalisation: NAICOM Revokes Royal Exchange Prudential Life Insurance License appeared first on Business Today NG.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Chris Najomo, has cautioned against any further reduction in the regulator’s statutory funding, warning that such a move could weaken Nigeria’s aviation safety oversight.
Mr Najomo spoke on Thursday at a public hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation on the proposed review of the allocation of the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and Cargo Sales Charge (CSC) at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.
He said the NCAA supported adequate funding for all aviation agencies but warned that changing the existing revenue-sharing formula without considering the regulator’s responsibilities could affect its ability to discharge its statutory mandate.
According to him, the TSC accounts for about 85 per cent of the NCAA’s revenue, making the charge critical to the authority’s operations.
He contrasted this with the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), which generates a substantial portion of its revenue from commercial charges paid by aircraft operators for air navigation services.
Mr Najomo cited the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Policies on Charges for Airports and Air Navigation Services, Doc 9082, which provides guidance on how costs associated with air navigation services should be recovered.
He said the cost of such services should principally be recovered from aircraft operators that use them rather than through passenger-based charges such as the TSC.
He explained that any further reduction in the NCAA’s statutory funding could have implications for the authority’s ability to maintain effective safety oversight across the country’s civil aviation industry.
He told lawmakers that the authority could not responsibly guarantee the same level of safety oversight if its funding was reduced without an alternative and sustainable source of revenue.
The warning comes as lawmakers consider proposals to review the distribution of the five per cent TSC and CSC among aviation agencies.
The debate has also attracted concerns from airline operators, who argue that the TSC has become a financial burden on domestic carriers and have proposed replacing the percentage-based charge with a fixed levy.
The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), represented at the hearing by former Managing Director of NAMA, Roland Iyayi, urged the National Assembly to abolish the five per cent TSC and replace it with a flat-rate charge similar to the Passenger Service Charge collected by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.
Mr Iyayi argued that the percentage-based system places additional pressure on airlines at a time when operators are grappling with high fuel, maintenance and other operating costs.
The AON also proposed increasing NAMA’s share of aviation revenues and establishing a dedicated Aviation Development Fund to finance infrastructure and other sectoral needs.
Other aviation experts oppose equal funding treatment
Mr Najomo, however, said any additional funding required by NAMA should first be pursued through improved collection of its statutory commercial revenues, greater operational efficiency and stronger corporate governance.
He added that targeted government support could be considered for strategic capital infrastructure where necessary, in line with ICAO policies and international best practice.
Other aviation experts at the hearing also warned against treating the regulator and aviation service providers in the same way under a revised funding arrangement.
Musa Nuhu, a former Nigeria representative on the ICAO Council and immediate past director-general of the NCAA, said the regulator had a distinct responsibility that should not be weakened by changes to the funding structure.
Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to ICAO, Mahmud Ben-Tukur, similarly stressed the importance of maintaining the independence and financial capacity of the aviation regulator.
They argued that while aviation agencies perform complementary functions, responsibility for safety oversight of Nigeria’s civil aviation industry rests with the NCAA.
READ ALSO: NCAA threatens sanctions as Royal Air Maroc allegedly defies regulatory authority
Speaking virtually, Bernard Aliu, a former Nigeria permanent representative to ICAO and former president of the ICAO Assembly, and Harold Demuren, a former director-general of civil aviation, also backed the call to preserve the NCAA’s financial independence.
They said a strong and adequately funded regulator was essential to maintaining Nigeria’s aviation safety oversight system and compliance with international aviation standards.
The public hearing was attended by members of the National Assembly’s aviation committees, including their chairmen, Abdulfatai Buhari and Abdullahi Idris Garba, as well as heads of aviation agencies, airline operators and other industry stakeholders.
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