Durrant Pate/Contributor

Guardian Group maintained its growth momentum in 2023 with continued growth in core business performance across all its operations in the English-speaking and Dutch Caribbean markets. 

For the year ended December 31, 2023, unaudited profit attributable to shareholders jumped to TT$713 million, up TT$249 million or 54 per cent over the prior year’s results of TT$464 million. Earnings per share increased to TT$3.07 versus TT$2.00 in the comparative period. 

Equity value per share was TT$16.50 versus its comparative of TT$12.48. For the December quarter, the unaudited profit attributable to equity shareholders was TT$331 million, marginally ahead of the corresponding period last year by TT$0.3 million. 

This was primarily due to higher insurance service expenses and higher net insurance finance expenses offset by higher insurance revenues and higher net income from investing activities. 

LHP insurance segment contribution

The ‘Life, Health and Pension’ (LHP) segment contributed insurance revenues of TT$2.704 billion, up from TT$2.413 billion in the prior year by TT$291 million or 12 per cent. Insurance revenue increased on all lines as clients continued to service their policies coupled with new business growth across all territories. 

This year-over-year increase in revenue was partially offset by increased insurance service expenses mainly due to health claims and directly attributable expenses. The ‘Property and Casualty’ (P&C) segment reported increases in insurance revenues of TT$2.742 billion up from TT$2.457 billion in the prior year by TT$285 million or 12 per cent, principally from operations in the Trinidad, Jamaica and Dutch Caribbean markets.

Brokerage segment performance

Revenue from the brokerage segment closed on TT$228 million, up there per cent from the prior year. This was mainly due to increase in fee and commission income from the regional insurance giant,’s operations in the Netherlands. Net income from investing activities also increased by TT$1.1 billion over the prior year to TT $1.9 billion. 

This increase was mainly due to a year-over-year increase in net fair value gains of TT$897 million which included an unrealised net fair value gain of TT$157 million from the reclassification of financial assets backing life and annuity portfolios being transferred from amortised costs and fair value through other comprehensive income to fair value through the profit and loss. 

The change aimed at diversifying financial assets and reducing the mismatch gap of assets and liabilities on insurance portfolios. The remaining year-over-year movement of TT$744 million includes net fair value gains achieved from all main classes of investments, with local equities being a significant contributor.

Guardian chairman Robert Almeida reports that the Trinidad-based insurance giant “continues to closely monitor volatile markets and rebalance portfolios, as necessary.” The ‘Asset Management’ segment also reported a 51 per cent year-over-year growth in after-tax profit for the year. 

Guardian continues to capitalise on cost containment opportunities to reduce operating expenses. The group’s strong capitalisation and diversified business model positioned it well to respond to the changing business landscape and to navigate the ongoing uncertainties in its investment markets and the macro environment. 

As Guardian continue to implement planned changes, Almeida says “the group remains resolute on optimising performance whilst building out the phases of our strategic journey geared toward increased use of digital technology and exploring new markets, products, and services.”