Sanlam Kenya, a listed non-bank financial services firm, has made significant strides in narrowing its loss to Sh542 million in 2021, a notable improvement from the Sh626 million loss recorded in 2020.
The company's revenue growth strategies for both its Life and General insurance subsidiaries have been instrumental in its improved performance, despite operating in a challenging market.
Sanlam Kenya's top-line performance was marked by a 38% improvement in Gross Premium Income, which rose to Sh12 billion from Sh8.7 billion in the previous year.
Speaking on the release of the results, Sanlam Group CEO Dr. Patrick Tumbo noted that the Life insurance subsidiary had performed significantly well, contributing to the Group's resilient performance.
"After the successful implementation of revenue growth strategies in both short- and long-term insurance business, management's efforts have been redirected at ringfencing Sanlam Life successes to date while improving future results. Sanlam General will translate its notable revenue growth into a profitable result going forward," Dr. Tumbo said.
The firm's net written premium also registered a 34% growth to close at Sh9.2 billion, up from Sh6.8 billion, while total assets improved by 12% to Sh34.7 billion.
Sanlam Life Insurance recorded a Gross Premium Income of Sh7.4 billion, a 41% growth over the prior year, and posted a net profit of Sh642 million, a 29% rise from Sh498 million in 2020.
As part of its recovery strategy, Sanlam Kenya will continue to emphasize innovation to improve the Group's insurance offering to the market with a positive return to profitability prospects.
Sanlam General Insurance's performance was impacted by the application of more prudent provisioning of claims reserves and insurance counterparty balances in its general insurance subsidiary.
Despite slower business growth and higher claims lodged, Sanlam has maintained sufficient reserves to facilitate the timely settlement of claims.
The company has maintained a solid trading foundation, with total assets growing 11% to close at Sh34.6 billion, up from Sh31.6 billion recorded the previous year.
"At Sanlam Kenya and through our Sanlam Life Insurance Limited and Sanlam General Insurance Limited, we are resilient and remain well positioned to continue meeting the unique client needs in the General and Life Insurance space as we embark on an accelerated business recovery journey," Dr. Tumbo said.
As part of the build back better agenda by Sanlam Kenya, the firm has aligned its growth plans to the new continental business plan envisioned in the recently announced joint venture between Sanlam and Allianz.
While welcoming and celebrating the joint venture announced by Sanlam and Allianz to create the largest Pan-African non-banking financial services entity on the continent, Dr. Tumbo confirmed that the firm's local operations would be actively optimized to provide value for the clients in Kenya.
