Nigeria, Feb. 1 -- AXA Mansard Insurance saw a two-fifth drop in profit for the financial year 2022 much as gross premium written expanded, its unaudited earnings report showed on Tuesday.

The underwriter's earnings took a hit from a sharp surge in gross claims expenses and re-insurance spending.

Bucking the financial performance, shares in the company gained 6.3 per cent per unit in Lagos, its biggest daily gain in more than five weeks, following the release of its financial statements.

The insurer wrote N69 billion in gross premium compared to the N60.2 billion reported the previous year, while gross premium income at N69.4 billion expanded by roughly a quarter when set beside the figure recorded one year earlier.

It owed the jump i...