Britam freezes dividend for third year as profit rises to Sh1.69bn

Britam Holdings managing director Tom Gitogo. PHOTO | POOL

Britam Holdings has posted a Sh1.69 billion net profit for the year ending December 2022 on reduced costs, marking a recovery from Sh72 million earned in the previous year.

The rise in net profit was despite the diversified financial services firm posting a drop in its income from Sh40.2 billion to Sh38.2 billion.

Britam’s bottom line was helped by a cut in expenses by 9.5 percent or Sh3.68 billion to Sh35.25 billion, mainly on reduced operating costs which fell by 26 percent from Sh11.32 billion to Sh8.37 billion.

“The improved performance is attributable to a growth in top-line revenue as well as operating efficiency and cost management initiatives,” said Britam.

“This, together with improved dividend and interest income, helped cushion the significant fair value losses to register improved profitability.”

Shareholders will, however, for the third consecutive year, go without any dividend. The last payment was on the 2019 results when the board paid Sh631 million.

Read: Half of NSE firms not paying dividends

Net earned revenue grew from Sh25.7 billion to Sh26.33 billion as gross earned premium and fund management fees grew.

However, total income dropped by five percent to Sh38.2 billion due to Sh3.93 billion losses on financial assets compared with Sh1.8 billion gain that was booked in the previous year.

The financial assets include shares listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), unquoted ordinary shares, government securities, corporate bonds, unit trust and investment in property funds.

Britam Life Assurance, which offers life covers, posted a net profit of Sh1.54 billion, a drop from a Sh1.66 billion.

However, Britam General Insurance, which offers short-term covers such as motor vehicle and health, emerged from Sh33.28 million loss to a net profit of Sh234 million on reduced expenses.

Britam Asset Managers, another subsidiary, posted a net loss of Sh130 million, an improvement from a loss of Sh166 million as expenses dropped.

→ [email protected]