In line with the recapitalisation requirement of the National Insurance Commission, shareholders of LASACO Insurance Plc have approved a raise of N10 billion capital through special/private placement for the firm.
This was at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos.
With the nod, the firm hopes to raise more capital through the issuance of up to 9,250,000,000 ordinary shares of N0.50 each at N1.20 per share by way of special/private placement.
The shareholders also gave the company the permission to reconstruct its existing ordinary shares of 7,334,344 on one new share for every four previously held.
Other approval granted by the shareholders were that N2,749,279,000 representing the surplus nominal value of the reconstructed shares be transferred into the share reserve account and form part of the shareholders’ funds of the company and that the reconstructed 1,833,586,000 ordinary shares of 50k each, be revalued in accordance with the ratio of reconstruction, subject to appropriate regulatory consent and be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The Managing Director of the firm, Mr. Segun Balogun, said he was optimistic that they would raise N10 billion because the firm has been paying dividend to shareholders.
He said: “I am very optimistic because LASACO is doing very well by paying good dividend so I am sure investors will be interested in buying the shares. We are returning good dividend, more than 10 per cent dividend payout. We are looking for almost N10 billion and we will to continue as a composite company.
“The next line of action for us is to ensure that we are fully recapitalised so that we will continue to be in business. We also want to ensure that the premium income generation by LASACO continues to increase in good leaps just like we witness in 2018 and 2017. The growth increased by almost 50 per cent and that is the improvement that we will continue to work on.’’
