Guardian Holdings to pay out final dividend in May

 


Guardian Holdings for the year ended 31st December 2024, reported audited profit attributable to equity shareholders of $850 million, exceeding the prior year’s restated results of $645 million by $205 million or 32 per cent.


In terms of normalised core business growth, the Group achieved a year-over-year growth in profit before taxation of $415 million or 61 per cent after excluding the prior year’s non-recurring net fair value gain of $174 million.

In 2024, the Group generated $377 million in new business contractual service margin, 19 per cent growth over 2023.

Management commented, “These results were achieved against a backdrop of a challenging external environment, notably marked with continued economic, geopolitical and climate uncertainties.”

When compared to the prior year’s restated results, the Group’s equity / book value per share increased from $16.23 to $19.71, earnings per share increased from $2.78 to $3.66, return on equity increased from 19 per cent to 20 per cent and dividends paid increased from $0.75 to $0.80.

For the year ended 31st December 2024, insurance revenues were $5,878 million, surpassing the prior year’s revenues of $5,438 million by $440 million or 8 per cent. This was mainly driven by increased revenues from core operations in the English-speaking and Dutch Caribbean markets.

Insurance revenue increased on all lines, as clients continued to service their policies coupled with new business growth across all territories.

The Property and Casualty (P&C) segment also grew, contributing insurance revenues of $2,943 million, which surpassed the prior year by $200 million or 7 per cent, principally from operations in Trinidad, Jamaica and Dutch Caribbean markets.

All business lines except marine experienced revenue growth, with the property line being the highest contributor. The year-over-year growth in revenue was partially offset by higher insurance service expenses, mainly driven by higher incurred claims and other directly attributable expenses.

This included additional incurred claims paid in the third quarter for Hurricane Beryl. Net expenses from reinsurance contracts held also increased in the current year from the continued tightening of reinsurance markets, resulting in a higher level of reinsurance expenses primarily in the property book of business.

Management concluded. “Guardian continues to closely monitor volatile markets and rebalance portfolios, as necessary. Net insurance finance expenses increased by $58 million or 7 per cent over the prior year, mainly from the LHP segment. Among other items, finance expenses include the flow through of the portion of net income from investment activities that are associated with insurance products with an investment component.



The Board has proposed a final dividend of 57 cents per share, which, in addition to the interim dividend of 23 cents per share, will bring total dividends for the 2024 financial year to 80 cents per share, an increase from 75 cents per share for the 2023 financial year. This dividend will be paid to shareholders on record as at 7th May 2025, when the register of members will be closed for this purpose.

The dividend of 80 cents per share represents a payout ratio of 22 per cent on the earnings per share of $3.66



Caribbean Money Daily

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kintyre makes US$300,000 investment in Sevens Ice

Image
  Tyrone Wilson Chairman, President and CEO Kintyre Holdings (JA) Limited (KHL) and Seven Kingston Limited, owners of the Seven Ultra Lounge and Restaurant, on January 14 announced a joint venture to launch Sevens Ice. Kintyre Holdings has made an investment in excess of US$300,000 in acquiring an associate stake in Seven and also establishing the start-up for the ice venture. "This initiative addresses Jamaica’s growing demand for high-quality ice, with operations set to begin in Q1 2025," Wilson stated. Additionally, the venture has acquired a cold storage facility to manage its start-up capacity and is exploring the importation of ice to bridge the gap between demand and supply, ensuring a consistent and reliable market presence. Distribution Expansion Wilson said that Sevens Ice has secured a distribution point in Kingston and is in the process of setting up another in St. Catherine to serve the western and central parts of the island. This expansion will ensure broade...
Read more

BCMG increases risk management oversight: Launches surveys-as-a -service

Image
Insurance brokers in Jamaica often send underwriters themselves to survey risks; however, they frequently do not have the technical knowledge required to produce the best results. BCMG Insurance Brokers Limited (BCMG) in response, introduced - in support of the wider brokerage industry - an updated surveys-as-a service product which has been embraced by the wider community as groundbreaking. Senior Risk Manager on the New Business Team of BCMG David Lazarus explains, “We saw where the technical details and in-depth knowledge of the intricacies of business operations were not always being taken into consideration. This was seen as an opportunity to expand into this space.” In 2020, Billy Craig Insurance Brokers and Maritime General Insurance Brokers, MGI, signed an agreement to merge their operations to form BCMG Insurance Brokers Limited. Following the union, the new company has been exploring options to expand the service capability of the brokerage and increase value for clients...
Read more

Wish List: University Hospital CEO seeks top-flight CFO for turnaround miracle

Image
  It's a puzzling end of year for the finance team at the University Hospital of the West Indies where, despite an ongoing plan to quadruple plant size and service centres for the teaching institution, its current state is one of insolvency, with CEO Fitzgerald Mitchell wishing for a new Chief Financial Officer with a touch of genius to help in turning things around. Medium term, the government is aiming to significantly update this, the Caribbean's premium medical hospital and teaching school. At last report, the price tag on the project was $4.9 billion. In the works are plans for a new 6-storey, 120,000 square feet medical facility, which will accommodate an additional 40 medical and surgical beds, improvements to outpatient or ambulatory surgery, lecture rooms, conference rooms, and upgrading of the cardiology hybrid interventional surgery room and the neonatal intensive care and administrative departments. However, the institution is currently struggling to become solvent ...
Read more