Business
Royal Exchange Group Posts N2.4m Loss
Royal Exchange Assurance Group, one of the non-banking financial services groups has posted a loss after tax of N2.4 million for the financial year ended December 31st 2008.
This is against a profit after tax of N647.1 million recorded in 2007 which represents 476.37 per cent decline in profit.
However, the group recorded N3.36 billion premium income from its operations for the period under review a 25.37 per cent improvement on the figure of the previous year which was N2.68 billion.
Shareholders stake in the company however went down by as much as 48.99 per cent, falling from an all time high of N11.92 billion in the previous year to N6.08 billion at the end of the last accounting period.
According to the company’s annual report made available at the 40th annual general meeting of the company in Lagos last week, total assets fell by 23.61 per cent while net premium income stood at N2.60 billion, as against N2.09 billion, recorded in the previous year, a 24.40 per cent improvement.
Premium earned by the firm within the year under consideration rose by 16.59 per cent, rising from N2.17 billion, in 2007 to N2.53 billion, last year.
Also last year, Royal Exchange paid claims to the tune of N880.08 million, a 45.40 per cent improvement in the level of customer’s expectations met and surpassed. In the previous year, claims settled by the group totaled N605.30.
Underwriting profits closed at N572.10 million, a 32.49 per cent shortfall from the N847.44 million, made in 2007 while interest income went up to N94.96 million, even as its investment income fell short of its 2007 figure by 9.67 per cent, having gone down from the N571.50 million, in the previous year to N516.25 million, last year. It also improved on its other incomes by a whopping 1,433.92 percent, increasing it from N7.90 million, in 2007 to N121.18 million, last year just as it improved its earnings from stock exchange operations by 143.91 percent. This was reversed from a N14.28 million, loss position in 2007 to N6.27 million, gain last year.
Loss before taxation and exceptional items was N164.64 million, a 21.23 percent shortfall when compared to the N775.41 million, profit recorded in the previous year.
Within the period, the group wrote off N1.37 billion, as exceptional items resulting to a N1.54 billion loss before tax which translates to a 298.50 per cent fall from the N775.41 million profit that it recorded at the close of business in 2007.
The Royal Exchange Group within the year under consideration increased its paid up share capital by 10.12 percent, moving it up from N1.68 billion, in the previous year to N1.85 billion, last year.
It also raised its contingency reserve by 22.91 percent from N445.79 million in 2007 to N547.92 million last year. While its investment properties revaluation reserve rose slightly by 1.96 per cent from N2.04 billion last year.
The group’s general reserve was significantly drawn down by as much as 314.35 per cent, having been reduced from N933.71 million in the previous year to N2 billion deficit last year.
Shareholders’ interest in the company also nose-dived; it fell by 48.99 per cent, having been drawn down from N11.92 billion in the previous year to N6.08 billion last year.
The group however increased the balance in its insurance fund by 45.68 percent, raising it from N1.27 billion in 2007 to N1.85 billion in 2008.
Short term investments went down significantly by as much as 95.88 percent as well as its long term investment by 49.92 per cent.
The group’s short term investments was reduced from N2.06 billion in the previous year to N84.77 million last year.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has criticised Nigeria’s import ban on 25 categories of goods, claiming that the restrictions limit market access for American exporters.
This is the effect of President Donald Trump’s tariffs introduction on goods entering the United States, with Nigeria facing a 14 per cent duty.
The USTR highlighted the impact of Nigeria’s import ban on various sectors, particularly agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
The restrictions affect items such as beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and alcoholic beverages, which the United States sees as significant barriers to trade.
The agency argues that these limitations reduce export opportunities for United States businesses and lead to lost revenue.
“Nigeria’s import ban on 25 different product categories impacts United States exporters, particularly in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
“Restrictions on items like beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and spirits limit United States market access and reduce export opportunities.
“These policies create significant trade barriers that lead to lost revenue for United States businesses looking to expand in the Nigerian market”, the agency said .
In 2016, Nigeria implemented the ban on these 25 items as part of efforts to control imports and stimulate local production.
Some of the banned items include poultry, pork, refined vegetable oil, sugar, cocoa products, spaghetti, beer, and certain medicines.
On March 26, 2025, the Federal Government also announced plans to halt solar panel imports to encourage local manufacturing as part of its push for clean energy.
A leading agribusiness strategist and digital agriculture expert, Ayo Oluwa Okediji, has sought cooperative-driven investments in sustaining growth of poultry industry in Nigeria.
He said the poultry industry was at a defining moment and requires urgent structural reforms to secure its future and ensure long-term sustainability.
Speaking on the theme, “Strengthening Poultry Farming Through Cooperative Synergy and Strategic Investments”, at the recently concluded Oyo Mega Poultry Workshop 2025 in Ibadan, Okediji called on poultry farmers, cooperative leaders, financial institutions and policy makers to rethink the existing structure of the poultry sector.
He stressed the need to transition from fragmented, individually-driven operations to well-structured, cooperative-led enterprises capable of attracting sustainable financing and securing long-term viability.
He said, “Our poultry sector cannot thrive on individual effort alone. We need to organise ourselves into cooperative clusters, build strong governance systems and position ourselves to attract the level of investment needed to sustain this industry beyond this generation.”
Drawing on lessons from successful global cooperative models such as Rabobank in the Netherlands and Landus Cooperative in the United States, Okediji introduced the FarmClusters Poultry Model, a locally adapted solution developed by Agribusiness Dynamics Technology Limited (AgDyna), a subsidiary of AgroInfoTech Africa.
According to him, the model is currently being piloted in Oyo State in partnership with PANOY Agribusiness Limited and local poultry cooperatives.
The Rivers State Representative of the Nigeria Chambers of Commerce, Mines, Industries and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. Erasmus Chukwundah, has urged palm oil farmers to consider hybrid seedlings for planting, if they must break even in palm oil business.
Chukwundah said this recently at the Free Oil Palm Business Climate Smart Best Management Practice/Assistance Training organized by Partnership Initiative In Niger Delta (PIND) for Palm Oil Farmers in Elele, Ikwerre Local Government Area.
The Rivers representative said until palm oil farmers begin to consider such hybrid oil palm seedlings, they may not meet up with the daily increasing demand of palm oil in the market.
According to him, the seedlings produce up to 30 bunches at once that ripen same time.
He said PIND decided to partner with Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria (OPGAN) to ensure that the message was received by the targeted audience.
According to him, palm oil remained a popular choice of industry operators as it could be converted to many other products such as vegetable cooking oil.
He also noted that products such as motor tyers, marine ropes and others are now gotten from the palm tree.
Chukwundah, who is the immediate past Director-General of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Mines, Industries, and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), further warned against use of unrecommended fertilisers in growing oil palms.
He noted that such practices could limit its export value or chances as the foreign marketers have a way of detecting such .
He reiterated the need for organic fertilizers, including poultry droppings, to enable them have a natural palm oil.
“People must reduce physical contact with palm oil production. That is why we are campaigning for hydrolic oil mills. The foreign markets are no longer interested in crude method of palm oil production”, he said.
Meanwhile, one of the farmers, Sonny Didia, who appreciated Chukwundah’s commitment towards the concern of farmers, appealed for an urgent need for loan opportunity with low interest rate in order to enable them beat the target.
King Onunwor