Santam: Earnings jump 40% thanks to no hail

SHORT-TERM insurer Santam reported a 40 percent jump in full-year earnings yesterday, slightly lower than expected, after a turnaround in its crop insurance segment and an absence in hail-related catastrophes. Santam said diluted headline earnings per share rose to R14.35 cents in the year to December from R10.23 a year ago. The insurer majority-owned by Sanlam said its gross written premiums – or the amount customers paid up for their insurance policies during the period – rose 10 percent to R22.7 billion. Its crop insurance business made an underwriting profit of R251 million from a loss of R142m in 2013, it said. The country’s largest property and casualty insurer raised its dividend by 10 percent to R7.42, much lower than the R12.98 analysts had anticipated. Shares fell 2.76 percent to close at R229 yesterday. – Reuters