CrusaderSterling Pensions: 2023 Audited Accounts Summary

CrusaderSterling Pensions has published its 2023 corporate and pension fund audited accounts, providing a summary overview of its financial health and fund performance. This report provides a summary review and presents key financial highlights, financial ratios, fund performance, and the trend in the number of Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders.

Financial Highlights

• Total Revenue: The audited accounts revealed a 20% increase in total revenue, growing to ₦5.92 billion in 2023, up from ₦4.93 billion in 2022. The increase is attributed to a 20.41% increase in management fees as well as a 17.5% improvement in investment and other income.
• Profit After Tax (PAT): PAT rose 21% to ₦2.12 billion, reflecting a reasonable growth from the previous year’s ₦1.74 billion.
• Operating Expenses: Operating expenses rose slower than revenue and PAT by 19% to ₦2.97 billion from ₦2.50 billion, leading to a slight drop in the company’s cost-to-income ratio, which fell to 50.22% from 50.77% indicating prudent cost management despite inflationary pressures.
• Shareholder’s Funds: Company’s shareholders fund ended the year at ₦7.3 billion in 2023 up 12.8% from ₦6.47 billion in 2022
• Return on Equity (ROE): ROE came in at 28.97%, just pipping inflation which closed 2023 at 28.92%.

Financial and Fund Highlights

Corporate Audited Annual Results

Financial Ratios

Fund Performance Highlights

• RSA Funds Performance: CrusaderSterling Pensions offers 6 of the regulated RSA funds to the public. All 6 funds performed better in 2023 than they did in 2022, but 2 underperformed the 2023 industry benchmark for their respective funds (see our article on benchmark returns here). None of the funds outperformed inflation, which closed December 2023 at 28.92%.

5-Year Audited Pension Funds Performance

Number of RSA Holders

• RSA Growth: The number of RSA holders grew by 3.45% in 2023, reaching a total of 383,775, up by 12,797.

Demographic Analysis

• Age Distribution: The majority of 330,000 RSA holders (83.9%) registered in 2023 fell within the age bracket of <30 years to 39 years, indicating a young and growing industry subscriber base. Of the 2023 registrations, CrusaderSterling Pensions recorded 3.88% of this growth.

Conclusion

CrusaderSterling Pensions has demonstrated stable financial health for its shareholder in 2023. Revenue growth has remained in double digits and its cost-to-income ratio continues to inch lower closer to 50. In terms of fund management, improvements in returns can be made, and the company’s investment managers should aim for that which will be welcome from current RSA holders as well as anyone looking to use the transfer window to move to CrusaderSterling Pensions.

Watch out for the 2024 Money Counsellors Annual Report on Pensions. MCARP 2023 available here.