Major jump in ICBL profits

The former state-owned Insurance Corporation of Barbados (ICBL) recorded a dramatic increase in its profits in 2021, rising five-fold from the net position of 2020.

This has been outlined in ICBL’s summary of its audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021. Chairman Joe Poulin, the Canadian financier who purchased the company from BF&M of Bermuda just over two years ago, described the company’s performance as “solid”.

At the end of 2020, ICBL’s after-tax profit stood at $4.3 million, however, at the end of 2021, the company’s profits jumped to $21.2 million.

Poulin said “As a result, earnings per share for 2021 were $0.52, an increase of 371.7 per cent compared to $0.11 for the prior year.”

In his Chairman’s Report, Poulin told investors the outstanding showing by the insurer was driven by asset management net income of $21.4 million offset by losses in insurance operations.

“Considering the challenges to the Barbados economy due to the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, ICBL’s 2021 results continue to show the resilience of its business,” the chairman noted.

According to the businessman, the strong performance of the asset management portfolio of ICBL was driven by fair-value increases in the company’s equity investments.

Poulin pointed out that ICBL’s management continued to focus on driving profitability within its insurance operations while providing the best customer service experience.

He said: “ICBL continues to be very well capitalized, with total assets increasing by 6.3 per cent to $369.5 million, including cash and cash equivalents of $68 million and shareholders’ equity of $128.5 million.”

The company was given a clean report from its auditors PriceWaterhouseCoopers.