NIGERIA · ABUJA · INSURANCE
Key Facts
- —What happened Veritas Kapital Assurance, a Nigerian non-life insurer listed on the Nigerian Exchange in Lagos, swung from a 2024 loss to a 2025 profit before tax of N3.16 billion (about US$2.37 million).
- —Not an 86% rise After tax, the result moved from a loss of N1.63 billion (about US$1.23 million) to a profit of N3.05 billion (about US$2.29 million). That is a swing from loss to profit, not growth on an earlier profit.
- —Key dates The audited 2025 accounts were published on the Nigerian Exchange on 1 April 2026. Shareholders received them at the 49th annual general meeting, held online on Friday 16 October 2026.
- —What drove it Claims costs fell sharply while insurance revenue slipped 3% to N22.60 billion (about US$16.97 million). No dividend was declared for 2025.
- —The catch The insurer lost N2.52 billion (about US$1.89 million) before tax in the first half of 2026, against a profit in the same period of 2025.
- —The stock Shares closed at N1.09 (about US$0.0008) on 19 October, which values the whole company at roughly US$11.3 million.
Veritas Kapital Assurance, a small Nigerian insurer listed on the Nigerian Exchange in Lagos, swung from a loss in 2024 to a profit before tax of N3.16 billion (about US$2.37 million) in 2025, according to audited accounts published on the Nigerian Exchange on 1 April 2026. Shareholders formally received those accounts at the company’s 49th annual general meeting, held online on Friday 16 October 2026, and the exchange published the meeting’s resolutions on Monday 19 October.
For US investors who watch Nigeria’s frontier stock market, the result matters less for its size than for what it shows about an insurance sector that has just been ordered to hold far more capital. It also needs a correction, because some coverage of the meeting called the 2025 result an 86% rise in profit after tax, while the filing shows a loss in 2024 and therefore a swing from loss to profit.
All naira figures here are converted at N1,332.01 per US dollar, the Friday 16 October close. The numbers are for the insurance company on its own unless the group, which also owns a pension manager and a health insurer, is named.
What the Filing Shows
For 2025 the company booked a profit before tax of N3.16 billion (about US$2.37 million), against a loss before tax of N1.49 billion (about US$1.12 million) in 2024. After tax it earned N3.05 billion (about US$2.29 million), compared with a loss of N1.63 billion (about US$1.23 million) a year earlier.
Gross premiums, the money written before any of the risk is passed on, were flat at N23.73 billion (about US$17.82 million). Insurance revenue, the measure used under current accounting rules, slipped 3% to N22.60 billion (about US$16.97 million).
Shareholders’ equity rose 27% to N15.17 billion (about US$11.39 million), while total assets fell 10% to N29.88 billion (about US$22.43 million). Share capital did not change during 2025, so the rise in equity came from the year’s profit plus revaluation and fair-value gains rather than from new money.
The wider group, which includes the pension and health businesses, made a profit after tax of roughly N4.0 billion (about US$3.0 million) after a loss in 2024. The board declared no dividend for 2025, as in 2024, and the resolutions passed on 16 October contain no dividend item.
What Drove the Swing
The turnaround came from claims, not from selling more insurance. Claims incurred fell to N6.40 billion (about US$4.80 million) from N13.05 billion (about US$9.80 million), and the company also cut its estimates for older claims by N6.26 billion (about US$4.70 million).
Aviation cover is the core of the business and brought in N12.14 billion (about US$9.12 million), more than half of insurance revenue, down from N16.01 billion (about US$12.02 million) in 2024. Much of that risk is passed to reinsurers, and the net cost of reinsurance rose to N11.17 billion (about US$8.39 million).
Investment results moved the other way. In 2024 the company booked a foreign exchange gain of N5.09 billion (about US$3.82 million), but in 2025 it recorded an exchange loss, and net investment income fell to N0.85 billion (about US$0.64 million).
Who Is Behind Veritas Kapital
Veritas Kapital Assurance is a non-life insurer based in Abuja’s central business district that started business in 1974 as Kano State Insurance Company and took the Kapital name in 1981. Its regulator is the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), the federal agency that licenses and supervises Nigerian insurers.
The largest shareholder is Veritas Capital Limited, which held 52.8% of the shares at the end of 2025, and board member Aminu Babangida holds an indirect interest through it. The board is chaired by Babatunde Irukera, a lawyer appointed chairman on 31 July 2025, and the managing director is Adaobi Nwakuche.
At the meeting, Irukera credited the industry’s recapitalisation for a stronger capital base, according to the Lagos business site Nairametrics. “Recapitalization has positioned us to compete more effectively in an increasingly dynamic and capital-driven insurance market,” he was quoted as saying.
The Capital Test
The Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act of 2025 raised the minimum capital for a non-life insurer to N15 billion (about US$11.26 million), or a higher risk-based figure set by NAICOM. Insurers had until 31 July 2026 to comply.
In a public notice in early August 2026, NAICOM listed Veritas Kapital among 43 insurers and reinsurers it had verified as meeting the new requirement, the News Agency of Nigeria and Daily Trust reported. The company’s own accounts to 30 June 2026 still show share capital of N6.93 billion (about US$5.21 million), the same as in 2024, so its filings do not yet show how it cleared the bar.
The First Half of 2026
The 2025 recovery did not carry into this year. In unaudited accounts filed on 30 July 2026, the company showed a loss before tax of N2.52 billion (about US$1.89 million) for January to June, against a profit of N3.24 billion (about US$2.43 million) a year earlier.
Gross premiums fell 24% to N10.37 billion (about US$7.79 million), and insurance service expenses rose to N6.44 billion (about US$4.83 million) after a net credit a year earlier. Because the first quarter alone showed a profit before tax of N1.40 billion (about US$1.05 million), the April to June quarter lost about N3.92 billion (about US$2.94 million) before tax, by our calculation.
What It Means for US Readers
Veritas Kapital is a micro-cap, and its shares closed at N1.09 (about US$0.0008) on 19 October, which values all 13.9 billion shares at roughly N15.1 billion (about US$11.3 million). Only about N8.2 million (about US$6,200) of stock changed hands that day, so a foreign fund could not build or sell a meaningful position quickly.
The bigger signal is for the whole sector. Nigeria made its insurers raise capital so they can carry larger and more complex risks and fund long-term investment, and NAICOM says the exercise drew domestic and foreign investment, but Veritas Kapital’s slide back into a half-year loss shows that more capital does not by itself fix underwriting.
The accounts also show how much the naira can flatter or hurt an insurer’s results. A currency gain made 2024 look better than its underwriting, and for a dollar-based investor the entire 2025 profit after tax comes to about US$2.29 million at the 16 October rate.
What Is Not Known
The filing itself is not fully consistent. Its summary page and its statement of changes in equity give a 2025 profit after tax of N3.05 billion (about US$2.29 million), but the income statement page prints N3.04 billion (about US$2.28 million), a gap of about N9.3 million (about US$7,000) that the company has not explained.
The accounts filed so far do not show how Veritas Kapital met the new capital requirement, or who provided any new capital. The company has not given a public explanation for the first-half loss that The Rio Times could find, and its third-quarter accounts have not yet been filed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Veritas Kapital Assurance report for 2025?
It swung from a 2024 loss before tax of N1.49 billion (about US$1.12 million) to a 2025 profit before tax of N3.16 billion (about US$2.37 million). After tax, it earned N3.05 billion (about US$2.29 million).
Why is “profit up 86%” the wrong description?
The company lost N1.63 billion (about US$1.23 million) after tax in 2024, so there was no earlier profit to grow from. The accurate description is a swing from loss to profit.
When were the results filed and presented?
The audited accounts were published on the Nigerian Exchange on 1 April 2026. Shareholders received them at the 49th annual general meeting, held online on Friday 16 October 2026.
Is Veritas Kapital still profitable in 2026?
Not so far this year. It lost N2.52 billion (about US$1.89 million) before tax in the first half of 2026, according to its unaudited accounts.
Did Veritas Kapital meet Nigeria’s new insurance capital rules?
NAICOM listed it in early August 2026 among 43 insurers and reinsurers verified as compliant. Its published accounts do not yet show how the capital was raised.
Sources: Veritas Kapital Assurance, audited financial statements for 2025, Nigerian Exchange filing, Veritas Kapital Assurance, resolutions of the 49th annual general meeting, 19 October 2026, Veritas Kapital Assurance, notice of annual general meeting, 24 September 2026, Veritas Kapital Assurance, unaudited half-year 2026 statements, Veritas Kapital Assurance, unaudited first-quarter 2026 statements, Veritas Kapital Assurance, appointment of board chairman, 4 August 2025, Nigerian Exchange, equities price list, 19 October 2026, News Agency of Nigeria, NAICOM confirms 43 insurers and reinsurers meet capital requirements, Daily Trust, NAICOM clears 43 insurance firms, Nairametrics, report on the annual general meeting, 18 October 2026. All retrieved 19 October 2026.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error