April 3, 2023

IronRock Insurance Company Limited (ROC), for the year ended December 31, 2022 posted gross written premiums of $1.10 billion (2021: $881.21 million) representing a 25% increase. For the quarter, gross written premium amounted to $344.60 million (2021: $260.67 million), a 32% increase year over year.

Gross insurance premiums revenue amounted to $991.90 million compared to $838.09 million in 2021.Written premiums ceded to reinsurers amounted to $935.99 million (2021: $686.76 million), resulting in a net written premium of $1.05 billion (2021: $989.43 million). For the quarter, net written premium amounted to $49.44 million, down 26% compared to $66.70 million booked in the corresponding quarter of 2021.

Net insurance premium revenue declined 11% to $170.11 million (2021: $190.28 million), while for the quarter, net insurance premium revenue declined 6% to $45.07 million (2021: $48.07 million).

Commission expenses incurred increased 16% to $118 million (2021: $101.63 million), while commission income grew by 24% to $213.41 million (2021: $173.19 million).

Profit before operating expenses increased 12% to $170.17 million (2021: $170.76 million).

Operating expenses increased 12% to $211.43 million (2021: $188.78 million). As such, underwriting loss closed at $41.27 million (2021: loss of $18.02 million). For the quarter, the underwriting profit was $47.24 million (2021: $41.93 million).

Investment income increased 23% to $53.89 million (2021: $43.87 million). Other income increased significantly to $3.37 million (2021: $13,000). Gain on sale of investment increased 5% to $10.37 million (2021: $9.85 million). Foreign exchange gain amounted to $4.16 million (2021: $25.13 million).

As a result, profit before taxation totalled $30.53 million (2021: $60.84 million). For the quarter, profit before taxation totalled $64.58 million (2021: $70.47 million).

Taxation charge amounted to $2.38 million (2021: $7.13 million) . This resulted in a 48% decline in net profit to $28.15 million (2021: $53.71 million). For the quarter, net profit decreased 2% to $62.20 million (2021: $63.34 million).

Earnings per share (EPS) amounted to $0.132 (2021: EPS: $0.251); while EPS for the quarter was $0.302 (2021: $0.296). The number of shares used in the calculations are 214,000,000 units. The stock price closed at $2.05 on March 31, 2023, with a corresponding P/E of 15.58 times.

Balance Sheet Highlights:

As of December 31, 2022, assets totalled $1.89 billion (2021: $1.55 billion), an increase of 22% year over year. This increase was mainly due to short-term investments, which increased 132% to $186.80 million (2021: $80.53 million) and reinsurance assets, which increased 50% to $613.21 million (2021: $408.32 million). However, the movement was tempered by a 27% decline in investments to $466.30 million (2021: $634.85 million).

Shareholder’s equity increased 8% to $644.99 million (2021: $619.65 million). This resulted in a book value per share of $3.01 (2021: $2.90).

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