Nigerian insurance stocks, compared

The insurers side by side

Figures as of the 20 Oct 2026 close. Click a ticker for the full stock page.

Ten smaller insurers (including Prestige, Lasaco and Royal Exchange) share about ₦129bn between them.

What the numbers are saying

• The recapitalisation reset the board: NIIRA 2025 lifted minimum capital from ₦2bn to ₦10bn for life insurers, ₦3bn to ₦15bn for non-life, ₦25bn for composites and ₦35bn for reinsurers. The 31 July 2026 deadline has passed: about 50 operators made it through, 24 of them raising fresh capital that sat in Central Bank escrow and began releasing in September 2026. Names that could not raise face merger or liquidation, so consolidation is now the sector’s live story.
• Cheap, with reasons: on reported FY2025 profits, AXA Mansard and Mutual Benefits trade at 3.7x, Custodian at 5.8x, NEM at 5.9x and AIICO at 6.1x. Insurance penetration is still under 1% of GDP and claims stories travel fast, so the market pays little for these earnings. Whether the discount closes depends on the recap money turning into growth and better claims behaviour, not on hope.
• Read an insurer differently: profit comes from underwriting (premiums minus claims and costs) plus investment income on the float, the premiums held before claims are paid. With Nigerian interest rates high, the investment side has carried many results. Check the split before trusting a profit jump, and beware one-offs: this site’s valuation dataset uses statutory audited profit, which is why AIICO shows ₦22.7bn rather than the ₦23.7bn normalised headline figure.
• Small print matters more here: Prestige’s 32.6x multiple is an artefact of a tiny ₦0.57bn profit, not a growth price. Coronation Insurance (WAPIC) formally delayed its FY2025 audit, so it carries no multiple yet; in a recapitalisation year, a delayed audit is information in itself. And the largest name, Custodian, is not a pure insurer: it is a holding company with pensions and trusteeship earnings inside the same share price.

Quick summary

• The sector is tiny (₦1.2tn) and its covered names are the exchange’s cheapest earnings, at 3.7x to 6.1x (covered names only; valuation covers 39 of 146 listed stocks).
• NIIRA 2025’s recapitalisation is done: fresh capital is landing, weak names face consolidation, composites must split life and general by 2030.
• Judge insurers on the underwriting versus investment split and on claims behaviour, not on headline profit alone.

Sources: Nairaview market data (Nigerian Exchange), 20 Oct 2026 close; NIIRA 2025 capital requirements and recapitalisation outcome via NAICOM reporting and Proshare; FY2025 profits as reported in audited company results. Verified 21 Oct 2026. Not investment advice.