Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc has posted a 2016 full-year group pre-tax loss of N1.07bn.

The result which was released on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicates that it’s full-year group net premium income stood at N10.27bn compared to N7.73bn recorded a year ago.

The full-year group loss before income tax of N1.07bn was a significant drop compared to profit of N1.20bn posted a year ago

However, the group’s underwriting profit (non-life and life) of N4.1 billion, which is one of the highest in the industry, recorded a 16 per cent growth from the underwriting profit of N3.6 billion in 2015.

With the period, the group paid out claims amounting to N3.3 billion which is a 43 per cent increase from the N2.3 billion paid out in 2015.

Its firstquarter 2017 net premium income stood at N3.72bn versus N2.96bn posted a year ago.

The Q1 profit before tax of the insurer stood at N875.5m compared to N408.4m recorded a year ago.

The firm equally grew its underwriting income by 27 per cent from N8.3 billion to N10.7 billion despite the challenging economy and consumer apathy towards insurance.