Insurer, Sanlam Kenya has bounced back to full-year profitability, posting a Sh 114.4 million profit for the 2019 financial year from a Sh 2 billion loss in 2018.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) listed firm improved performance reflected the positive strides made by the Group’s insurance subsidiaries.
Sanlam Kenya Group CEO Dr. Patrick Tumbo attributed the firm’s return to profitability on the consistent execution of a corporate turnaround strategy.
"We retain a positive outlook for the current financial year with revenues and earnings from the Group’s core insurance business expected to improve," Tumbo said
Within the period under review, the insurer posted a pre-tax profit of Sh 550 million.
Gross premium income soared by 11.1 per cent to Sh7 billion with the insurer’s short-term underwriting business returning a 30 per cent growth in the period.
Total revenues from gross written premium and investment income improved by 50 per cent compared to the previous year, while total outflows from policyholder benefits and expenses increased by 4 per cent.
At the same time, investment income performance made a complete turnaround reporting Sh 2.7 billion in revenues compared to Sh 187 million in that included the impact of impaired assets in the previous year.
The firm’s short-term business maintained its profitability score on the back of a 30 per cent growth in gross written premiums.
Sanlam booked its first loss in over a decade in 2018, as investment decisions led to grand impairment losses with the insurer writing off a combined Sh 1.1 billion in Athi River Mining, Real People Kenya and Kaluworks.
