NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 3 – Sanlam Kenya Group has announced a Sh317 million full year 2016 pre-tax profit jump up from Sh54 million posted the previous year representing a 487 percent shoot.
The firm attributes the jump to improved performance by the firm’s General Insurance Business-Sanlam General Insurance- which has managed to book a 95 percent reduction in its underwriting loss in line with growth in top line and prudent reserving.
Sanlam had issued a profit warning in December 2016 but withdrew the notice last month following what the company said was a reduction in the level of actuarial reserving for its life insurance businesses.
The group’s CEO Mugo Kibati explained that the revision of profits was due to a reduction in the level of impairment provisions – earlier considered for some of the firm’s investments in Chase Bank (In-Receivership).
The firm has proposed to retain dividends payable as it seeks to build its capital reserves to ensure full compliance with the new Risk Based Capital and regulatory regime.
“The group achieved numerous milestones despite a difficult year. Going forward, we will keep investing in our operational capacity to better serve our target customer needs and fully exploit existing and emerging growth opportunities,” Kibati assured.
