Johannesburg - Sanlam Ltd, the largest South Africa-based insurer, said 2014 profit rose after new business volumes grew by 18 percent, assets under management increased and underwriting activities expanded.
Net income climbed to R8.73 billion from R8.1 billion a year earlier, the Cape Town-based company said in a statement on Thursday.
Earnings per share excluding one-time items were little changed at R4.16, matching the median estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The dividend rose 13 percent to R2.25 per share.
Sanlam operates in Africa, Europe, the UK, US, India and Malaysia. It has been expanding in African and Asian countries to find new regions that may help boost profit as growth in its home market slows. Sanlam in October bought a 40-percent stake in Enterprise Insurance Company, a general insurance business in Ghana, for R237 million. Sanlam has more than R3 billion set aside for acquisitions.
“We will continue to focus on effectively implementing our strategy and supporting our employees to embrace the critical enabling factors that will help Sanlam to achieve accelerated growth,” Johan van Zyl, chief executive officer of the insurer, said in an emailed statement.
Bloomberg