Juicier Investment Income, Leaner Tax Provision Lift Afriprud’s Profit By 229.1%

Share registration and investment giant- Africa Prudential Plc, on Wednesday gave investors hope for better profit and dividend at year end with its superlative half-year performance, helped by the growth in net investment income and a reduced provision for income tax expense resulting in a three-digit growth in profit after tax.
Gross earnings for the period rose to N1.491bn, an increase of N529.715m or 55.08% increase from previous half year’s N961.678m, helped by net investment income rose N467.498m or 87.26% from N535.742m in the first half of 2016 to N1.003bn. Registrars fee income rose from N412.804m to N464.268m; just as other income increased to N23.885m from N13.132m.
While registrars fees income comprised of fixed periodic administration fees, transaction processing fees, fees for managing corporate actions, professional and IT services and that earned on administration of client funds including value added tax; net investment income was made up of revenue from treasury bills totaling N668.923m, up from N90.99m, interest on term deposit worth N219.953m, down from N284.42m; just as N114.364m came from interest on bonds, down from N160.332m.
Impairment loss on goodwill dropped from N147.46m to N62.5m, arising from the acquisition of the former UAC Registrars which is carried at cost on the date of the acquisition which began on May 30, 2013, ending in October 2015. Personnel expenses rose to N190.691m from N140.322m; other operating expenses rose to N267.653m from N195.413m. Depreciation and amortization was flat at N19.759m, compared to N20.453m.
Profit before tax rose to N950.79m from N605.49m, income tax expense fell sharply to N86.504m, up from N342.865m; leaving profit after tax at N864.286m, representing a N601.661m or 229.09% rise from N262.625m. The net profit increased total comprehensive income for the period jumped to N979.857m or 43 kobo earnings per share, as against the previous N262.625m or 13 kobo.