8 June 2016
The salient features of the Group’s performance are:
Says Sanlam Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ian Kirk: “Our diversification strategy has once again enabled us to deliver an overall solid performance in challenging operating conditions which have impacted our businesses in a number of areas.”
Sanlam Personal Finance achieved growth of 11% in new business sales, a particularly satisfactory performance given the challenging operating conditions in South Africa. Glacier achieved overall growth of 13% as demand remained strong for its offshore and wrap product solutions.
Sanlam Emerging Markets achieved overall new business growth of 53%, supported by a weaker average Rand exchange rate and the impact of corporate activity during 2015. New life business volumes increased by 42%, augmented by 65% and 50% growth in investment and general insurance business respectively. Excluding the impacts of the Rand and 2015 corporate activity, new business volumes increased by some 40%.
The Sanlam Investments cluster increased its new business volumes by 5%, with Sanlam Employee Benefits and the international businesses achieving particularly good growth.
All businesses contributed satisfactory growth in net result from financial services with the exception of Sanlam Investments (SI) where fund-based fee income was impacted by lower average market levels.
The Saham Finances acquisition which was concluded on 29 February 2016, contributed to the Group’s earnings with effect from 1 March 2016. As at 30 April 2016, the Group had discretionary capital amounting to R3.1 billion which remains earmarked for transactions currently under consideration.
“While Standard & Poor’s affirmed South Africa’s investment-grade sovereign credit rating last week, we expect the economic and operating environment to remain challenging for the remainder of 2016. We believe our sustained focus on our strategy will continue to support our performance this year,” Kirk concluded.
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