Britam Holdings posted a full year net profit of Ksh 865.8 million compared to Ksh 4.2 billion in 2016, which it attributes to a one-off change that positively impacted on the 2016 earnings by Ksh 5.2 billion.
Britam changed its valuation method of the long term liabilities to Gross Premium Valuation (GPV) methodology from the previously applied Net Premium Valuation (NPV) in compliance with the requirements of the Insurance Act as amended by the Finance Act 2015.
“The impact of this in 2017 is an increase in net insurance benefits by 150% from 2016. On a consistent basis, net insurance benefits and claims increased by 23% largely as a result of a 26% revenue growth in the life business,” the company, which had issued a profit warning last year, said while releasing its audited financial results for the year ended 31 December 2017.
The Group said it recorded a 143% growth on its total comprehensive income closing at Ksh 1.9 billion compared to Ksh 784.7 million in 2016.
This was achieved at the backdrop of a 15% increase on gross earned premium to Ksh 23.3 billion from Ksh 20.3 billion in 2016, a 24% increase in total income to Ksh 27.8 billion from Ksh 22.4 billion in 2016 and a strong performance of its investments in equities in 2017 compared to 2016.
“The Group’s asset base has increased by 18% to Ksh 99.0 billion from Ksh 83.7 billion in 2016. The shareholders’ funds have increased by 27% on the back of a strong performance and issuance of new shares to International Finance Corporation (IFC) during the year,” it said.
According to the results, net insurance revenue increased by 17% to Ksh 20.3 billion compared to Ksh 17.4 billion in 2016 . However, asset management revenue decreased by 16% to Ksh 848 million compared to Ksh 1 billion the previous year.
“The regional businesses contributed revenue of Ksh 2.7 billion (2016: 2.4 billion), which accounted for 13% (2016: 14%) of the total net insurance business revenue. These businesses account for 13% (2016: 16%) of the total income and 8% (2016: 7%) of the total assets of the group,” Britam says in its financial statement.
It adds that assets under management by the asset management business increased by 18% to Ksh 128.9 billion from Ksh 108.9 billion in 2016.
The Group’s investment in equities returned fair value gains amounting to Ksh 3.4 billion compared to a loss of Ksh 3 billion in 2016 and fair value gains on disposal of shares of Ksh 22.5 million (2016: loss of Ksh 313 million).
Investment income (dividends and interest) has grown by 19% from Ksh 4.2 billion in 2016 to Ksh 5.1 billion.
Income from investment property, which comprises of rental income, fair value movements in investment property and investment property funds, has declined by 161% from Ksh 991.1 million in 2016 to a loss of Ksh 607.3 million.
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The investment in the associate accounts for Ksh 53 million in the Group profit before tax, a decline of 88% from 2016.
Earnings per share have declined by 79% to Ksh 0.26 from Ksh 1.26 in 2016.
The Board of Directors recommends payment of a dividend of 35 cents (2016: 30 cents) per share amounting to Ksh 756.9 million (2016: 581.5 million).
