UGI touts turnaround strategy for growing profit
United General Insurance (UGI) Company chief executive officer Bywell Chiwoni has hailed the company’s five-year strategic agenda which has helped the firm to grow its revenue by 20 percent.
In the year ended December 2017, the general insurance firm grew its revenue to K6.3 billion from K5.2 billion and at the same time made a profit of K357 million from a loss of K645 million in 2016.
“I can only say it is no ordinary insurance company that can sustain that level of loss and recover in one year without injecting more capital.
“This is an outstanding result given the size of our market, and the rise of competition in the general insurance sector in recent years,” said Chiwoni on Friday in Blantyre during the launch of AutoShield, a new product that will enable policy holders to enjoy free installation of alarm systems in their cars, among other benefits.
He said the ability to grow revenue during loss-making time is testament of the quality of products and services they provide.
Chiwoni said during the “difficult year”, about 91 percent of the clients did not abandon them.
He said the turnaround strategy is in line with one of their core values, innovation, and is aimed at occupying a prominent leadership position in the insurance sector, adding that the introduction of Auto Shield, will among others, create demand for their products that will set the firm apart from other traditional players.
“We have done this by completely reinventing ourselves on the inside, while maintaining the trusted reliability, value focus and integrity which has
made UGI such a preferred insurer and a powerful brand,” said Chiwoni.
UGI chief operating officer Mac Donald Chibwe said AutoShield will help policy holders to be covered for theft of vehicle accessories.
“There are times when your vehicle accessories have been ransacked by thieves only to learn that you were never covered for theft because you did not fit your car with an alarm system,” he said.
AutoShield gives a policyholder self-authorisation of repairs of up to K250 000 without seeking prior approval from the insurance firm and if the costs exceed K250 000, the policy holder is assured of getting instant repair authorisation within 72 hours or three days.
