JOHANNESBURG - JSE-listed short-term insurance company Indequity Group said yesterday that it expected its basic earnings per share (Eps) to increase by at least 45percent for the six months to end March, partly boosted by an improvement in investment income during the period.
In the trading update, the group said it expects to report Eps of between 38.77cents a share and 41.64c, which is between 35 and 45percent higher than last year’s reported Eps of 28.72c.
The group prides itself in offering a broad spectrum of personal and business insurance services to the professionally qualified, affluent and risk-aware members of society who have traditionally been disadvantaged by conventional insurance policies. Indequity also expects its headline earnings per share (Heps) to show an improvement compared to last year.
“The group’s headline earnings per share are expected to be between 38.77c and 41.64c a share, which is between 26.1 and 35.4percent higher than the previous corresponding period’s Heps of 30.76c a share,” the group said.
It added that the increase in both Eps and Heps was largely due to an improvement in investment income as well as a reduction in the weighted average number of shares in issue due to share repurchases after the previous corresponding period. At the beginning of the year the group was involved in a share buyback programme where it bought back 65228 Indequity ordinary shares, representing 4.99 percent of the company’s issued share capital, for R2.60 million, with the company paying 305c a share for the lowest price and 700c for the highest price.