Cornerstone Insurance Plc has announced a final dividend of N0.28 kobo per share for the financial year ended December 31, 2025. This comes despite a significant 69% fall in its pre-tax profit, which dropped to N8.73 billion from N28.62 billion in the previous fiscal year, FY2024.
The company's corporate actions announcement, dated June 17, 2026, specified a qualification date of July 2, 2026, with dividend payments scheduled electronically on July 22, 2026, for shareholders who have completed e-dividend registration. The register of members will be closed from July 3 to July 6, 2026, and the Annual General Meeting is set for July 20, 2026, in Lagos.
The decline in profit was primarily concentrated in investment income, which collapsed by 76.56% year-on-year to N8.39 billion, down from N35.81 billion in 2024. This sharp decrease offset the strong performance in the company's core underwriting business.
Despite the headline profit decline, Cornerstone's FY2025 results show a robust underwriting engine. The insurance service result surged by 527.34% to N13.48 billion, a significant improvement from N2.15 billion in 2024. This growth was fueled by increased premium income and lower claims costs.
Insurance revenue saw a healthy increase of 33.6% year-on-year, reaching N51.66 billion. Non-life insurance remained the largest contributor, accounting for approximately 56.5% of group insurance revenue with N29.21 billion, a 28.4% increase YoY. Life insurance revenue also rose substantially by 62.6% to N12.39 billion, contributing 24% of the group's revenue.
Insurance service expenses decreased to N23.16 billion from N25.46 billion, indicating improved cost efficiency. However, net expenses from reinsurance contracts increased to N15.02 billion from N11.06 billion.
On the balance sheet, total assets grew by 16% to N141.03 billion, with financial assets rising to N88.42 billion. Insurance contract liabilities also increased to N55.08 billion. Operating cash flow improved materially to N7.65 billion from N1.40 billion.
Cornerstone Insurance recently obtained approval to implement a holding company structure, separating its life and general insurance operations. This restructuring aims to bring its general insurance businesses, including Hilal Takaful Nigeria Limited, under a more focused operating framework.
The proposed N0.28 dividend per share represents a payout yield of approximately 4.7% based on the closing share price of N5.90 on June 17, 2026. Following the release of its audited results, Cornerstone Insurance's share price gained 9.3% to N5.90 on June 17, 2026, from the previous day's closing price of N5.40. However, year-to-date, the stock has seen a slight decline of 1.01%.
