South African life insurer Metropolitan Holdings posted a 14% rise in first-half diluted headline EPS on Wednesday, and said a general economic slowdown had challenged its operating profit.
It said diluted headline earnings per share (EPS) for the six months to end June rose to 70,03 cents from 61,28 cents in the previous corresponding period, in line with its own forecast of a 10% to 15% rise. Operating profit was up 4%.
Metropolitan, the country’s fourth biggest life insurer by market capitalisation, said transport and food inflation remained a big challenge to its core target market and continued to curtail new business prospects.
Group chief executive Wilhelm van Zyl said it was ”strategically significant that our core profits came from different areas across the group.
”The fact that retail managed to maintain persistency levels despite increasing pressure on personal disposable income due to higher food and fuel prices was also a first-rate achievement.”
Van Zyl said this was because of ”proactive management interventions”, including enhancing the value proposition for clients together with an even sharper focus on intermediary training. – Reuters, Sapa