Paramount Insurance profit up 5pc on cost cuts

Listed non-life insurance company Paramount Insurance showed a 5 per cent year-on-year increase in profit to Tk 4.81 million in its first quarter (January-March) of 2025, supported by lower management and commission costs.

The earnings per share (EPS) rose to Tk 1.18 for the first quarter of 2025 from Tk 1.13 for the same period a year ago, according to the price sensitive information published on Thursday.

In the quarter to March, the insurer secured an increase in revenue and other income by only 4 per cent, compared to the corresponding period last year. It earned Tk 104.36 million in the quarter, up from Tk 100.24 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

However, the company could reduce management expenses, agency commission and other spending by 21.7 per cent year-on-year, according to the earnings disclosure. It did not provide any explanation of how the agency commission turned zero in this quarter.

Apart from the cost reduction, Paramount Insurance, one of the third generation non-life insurance companies in the country, also doubled its income from dividends and interest income in the quarter through March, compared to the same period the year before.

But its cash flow shrank.

The net operating cash flow per share, a measure of the company's ability to generate cash from its operations, went down to Tk 0.29 per share in the quarter to March from Tk 1.01 per share in the same quarter of the previous year.

The net asset value, which refers to the excess of total assets over total liabilities, reached Tk 28.33 per share as of March this year, up from Tk 27.85 per share a year ago.

Meanwhile, the stock rose 7.69 per cent to Tk 35 per share on Thursday on the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

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