South African insurer Liberty Group increased interim headline earnings per share, adjusted for the effects of a black economic empowerment (BEE) deal, by 51.5 percent, the company said on Wednesday.
Liberty, 30% owned by Standard Bank, said BEE normalised headline EPS in the six months to end-June was 583,1 cents.
The group said last month it expected headline EPS — the key profit measure for South African firms which excludes non-trading, capital and certain extraordinary items — to rise by 45% to 55%.
The group said it expected a similar performance in the second half of the financial year, assuming investment performance remained at the same levels as in the first half.
New insurance business volumes, including contractual increases, were 14,2% higher at R2,62-billion.
The group’s embedded value per share, Liberty’s underlying asset value plus its prospects for profitability, adjusted for the effects of a BEE transaction rose 8,6% to R89,68.
Liberty, which acquired full control of asset manager Stanlib on January 1, said the integration of its sales, marketing and technical support teams with Stanlib was complete.
Stanlib’s new business, or sales, excluding money market instruments fell by 12% to R22,97-million while assets under management increased by 8,8% to R322-billion.
Stanlib contributed R160-million to Liberty’s first-half headline earnings. – Reuters