Britam Holdings shareholders will earn Sh580 million in dividends following the release of the group’s financial results for 2015.
The board of directors has recommended a final payment dividend of 30 cents per share as the diversified financial services group reported a 38 per cent increase in its core business revenues in 2015 to Sh20.3 billion, up from Sh14. 7 billion registered in the previous year.
In the 2015 full year financial results released today, the group’s asset base grew by 7% to Sh77.6 billion, up from Sh72.5 billion reported in the previous year.
Insurance business revenues grew by 40 per cent to Sh19. 6 billion, up from Sh14.0 billion in 2014,
Gross revenues for the life assurance business grew by 13.8 per cent to Sh7.4bn in 2015, up from Sh6.5bn the previous year. The pensions business registered the strongest growth, with a 48 per cent increase from Sh2.65bn in 2014 to Sh3.93bn last year.
The asset management business recorded strong operational performance, with Assets under Management rising from Sh54bn at the close of 2014 to Sh97bn in 2015, representing an 80 per cent increase. Gross revenues for asset management rose by 5.2 per cent to Sh732m, up from Sh696 million in 2014, while pretax profits increased 27.7 per cent, from Sh141 million to Sh180 million.
The regional units contribution to the insurance business rose to Sh4 billion, an increase of 152.7% compared to Sh1.6 billion registered in the previous year.
Overall, the downturn in the performance of the Nairobi Securities Exchange negatively impacted the fair value of the earnings of the group, resulting in a pre-tax loss of Sh1.2 billion for the financial year ended December 31, 2015.
Group Managing Director Dr Benson Wairegi said that the business achieved tremendous growth despite the loss caused by the fair value write downs on its investments in the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
“The fundamentals of the business remain strong, we are on course in the implementation of our growth and diversification strategy which focuses on increased local and regional presence, innovative products, IT- enabled business transformation and property development,” said Dr Wairegi.
The Group has also consolidated its property business under a separate business unit known as Britam Properties (Kenya) Limited, now actively pursuing property development and management as core business. He said that in the course of the year, the group will be unveiling major property projects in Nairobi and its surroundings.
Some of the pipeline projects that Britam Properties is working on include a mixed-use property development in Kileleshwa, serviced apartments in Kilimani and Hurlingham, Mlolongo residential development and Ngong Township mixed-use development all estimated to cost Sh23 billion. The Group also plans to unveil the 31 storey iconic Britam Tower in the last half of 2016, built at a cost of Sh4 billion.
Dr Wairegi said that during the year, Britam Holdings acquired an additional 2.6 per cent stake in Housing Finance Group, raising its total shareholding to 48.63 per cent in the housing and mortgage lender.
He said the group had also made tremendous progress in the implementation of its IT transformation Project, dubbed “Project Jawabu” whose ERP went live in October last year. The project is designed to transform the way Britam does business with the aim of maximising shareholder’s value, managing the cost of doing business, and maximising customer experience.