Momentum Group expects to report higher full-year earnings as most of its business units contributed to a solid operational performance.
The group expects headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the year ended June to be 45%-55% higher at 432.0c-461.8c, it said on Monday.
The group said the SA life businesses saw robust earnings from the in-force book, supported by the release of the contractual service margin, notably from Momentum Retail and Momentum Investments.
Momentum Insure’s earnings benefited from continued pricing and claims discipline in a favourable underwriting environment, while Guardrisk achieved meaningful growth in underwriting profit and management fee income, it said.
Earnings were further aided by investment market performance and favourable yield curve impacts.
Business Day reported in June that the group’s shares had been buoyed as management outlined the growth strategy over the next two years, with many business units already having made strides in achieving their 2027 targets.
The company said it was adjusting to evolving market dynamics and innovating to achieve its growth target of raking in at least R7bn in earnings by 2027 and a return on equity of 20%.
The group’s key business units are partnering with some of Southern Africa’s largest churches in search of scale as the group ramps up the execution of its strategy.
The group’s Metropolitan Life subsidiary has partnered with Nazareth Baptist (Shembe) Church in a tie-up that will initially introduce a customised funeral insurance product, specifically co-created to meet church members’ cultural and religious needs.
Beyond the initial phase, which will offer cash payouts for claims, Metropolitan Life said it aimed to introduce comprehensive funeral management services that would assist bereaved families in conducting ceremonies that adhered to Shembe traditions.
The church, founded in 1910, is one of SA’s largest with a membership said to be about 8-million.
Metropolitan Life CEO Peter Tshiguvho said the partnership was important to win new business.
“We want to get new revenue streams. We have entered into a partnership with the Nazareth Baptist Church. As much as we have entered into this relationship, there is still a lot of work we have to do,” Tshiguvho said.
Momentum’s Namibian business has launched the Elcin Funeral Plan, a purpose-built funeral cover product offered exclusively to members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The church is said to have about 500,000 members.
Momentum said it was deploying further capital to its promising Indian business, Aditya Birla Health Insurance, which recently achieved breakeven. The business had a 12.6% market share in that market segment, and Momentum’s Guardrisk was also expanding its cell captive model to India.
With Kabelo Khumalo
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