Sluggish marine business slashes Express Insurance profit by 38%

Express Insurance Limited has reported a 38% year-on-year drop in its profit for the January to March quarter of 2023 owing to a decline in its marine insurance business.

At the end of the quarter, the company's net profit stood at Tk2.61 crore, which was Tk4.24 crore in the same quarter of the previous year. Its earnings per share (EPS) stood at Tk0.4.

Express Insurance, which got listed on the stock market in 2020, does all sorts of non-life insurance, guarantee, and indemnity businesses.

It recommended a 7% cash dividend for 2022 in a board meeting held this Monday. To secure shareholders' approval of the dividend, the company has scheduled its annual general meeting (AGM) on 28 August. The record date is 24 July 2023.

Seeking anonymity, a senior official at the company said the company's marine insurance business suffered a significant drop because of a decrease in the opening of LCs amid the dollar crisis.

This, in turn, also hit the fire insurance business as the two – marine and fire insurance – are related, he added.

According to industry insiders, most of the non-life insurers have been facing business slowdown for the last few quarters because of declining imports, bleak stock market, resumption of agents' commissions, and higher reinsurance costs.

At the end of 2022, the EPS of Express Insurance stood at Tk1.33, which was Tk1.86 in 2021.

As of 31 May 2023, sponsors and directors jointly held 60%, institutions 7.32%, and general public 32.68% shares in the company.

Its share price decreased by 4.3% to Tk26.7 at the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Tuesday compared to the previous session.