South African insurer Santam said on Monday half-year profit likely jumped by as much as 85%, helped by strong performance in its underwriting business, sending its shares higher.
Santam, the country’s biggest property and casualty insurer, said headline earnings per share for the six months to end-June likely rose by 75% to 85% from 284 cents in the same period a year earlier.
Headline earnings, the main profit gauge in South Africa, exclude some one-time items.
The company said it was helped by the absence of large industrial claims during the period. It said its investment portfolio, which was broadly in line with equity markets, would be helped by accounting factors.
South African insurers were hit hard by the economic downturn, as debt-burdened customers let insurance policies lapse and declining equity markets hit investment portfolios.
Unemployment and household debts remain high, even after Africa’s largest economy exited a recession last year.
Life insurer Liberty Holdings swung to a first-half profit last week, while two other South African life insurers, Sanlam and Metropolitan, gave upbeat outlooks for 2010. — Reuters