Companies

Jubilee Holdings posts 7.5pc profit growth in first half on premium rise

JUB

Jubilee chairman Nizar Juma (right) with CEO Dietmar Raich last December. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU

Insurance firm Jubilee Holdings has posted a 7.5 per cent growth in net profit in the half year ended June, helped by an increase in premiums.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm’s net profit in the period stood at Sh1.5 billion compared to Sh1.4 billion a year earlier.

This came as gross premiums rose 6.8 per cent to Sh17.1 billion. Jubilee declared an interim dividend of Sh1 per share, same as the payout for the same period last year. The dividend will be paid on October 7 to shareholders on the register as of September 16.

Jubilee chairman Nizar Juma said the company is well capitalised and has achieved and surpassed the minimum new risk based capital required for both life and general business.

The insurer is launching a specialist (or referral) model in Bancassurance through partnerships with several other banks, a move that is expected to boost its life insurance business segment from this second half.

Jubilee is also looking at regional expansion to other markets, having recently started operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo with its medical scheme. It is also eyeing an entry in Ethiopia, subject to regulatory approvals.

READ: Jubilee Holdings scouts for acquisition targets in Africa

Jubilee, which targets to cover 5.5 million customers over the next five years, is also intensifying its investment diversification plans to further cut its exposure in the stock market.

“Over the past five years, Jubilee had a planned policy to diversify its portfolio out of equity holdings into the bond market. This is currently paying off in the wake of the collapsing equity market,” the company said in statement.