Sanlam annual profit leaps on organic growth; to hold Ninety One stake

Thu, 06th Mar 2025 10:40

(Alliance News) - Sanlam Ltd on Thursday said annual profit surged as a result of strong organic growth, driven by robust contributions from life insurance, general insurance and investment management.

The Cape Town-based diversified financial services company said pretax profit from continuing operations was ZAR29.51 billion in 2024, up 43% from ZAR20.68 billion in 2023.

Insurance revenue for the year was up 6.4% to ZAR93.48 billion from ZAR87.84 billion.

Total new business volumes amounted to ZAR420.24 billion, 5.9% higher than ZAR396.59 billion. Total net client cash flows soared 52% to ZAR54.14 billion from ZAR35.67 billion.

Life insurance value of new covered business was ZAR2.90 billion, down 1.8% from ZAR2.85 billion.

Investment management new business volumes was ZAR297.21 billion, up 8.2% from ZAR274.57 billion.

Net result from financial services grew 24% to ZAR15.44 billion from ZAR12.37 billion, benefiting from strong contributions from life insurance, general insurance and investment management, Sanlam said, as well as good underlying performance from credit and structuring.

Net result from financial services is a measure of a company's profit from operating activities that excludes the return on investment from capital portfolio.

Sanlam declared a final dividend of 445 rand cents, up 11% from 400 cents. Sanlam pays no interim dividend, so the final dividend is the full-year payout.

Basic earnings per share rose 52% to 1,067.6 cents from 702.6 cents, while headline EPS was up 37% to 964 cents from 702 cents.

Sanlam said all of its businesses are enjoying "good momentum", and economic conditions are improving in most of the markets in which it operates.

"For this reason, the Sanlam group is positive about the outlook for the 2025 financial year," it said.

Separately on Thursday, Sanlam and Ninety One PLC said they have concluded "key operative agreements" for their planned strategic partnership.

Back in November last year, Ninety One and Sanlam announced they had reached an agreement that will see Sanlam appoint Ninety One as its primary active investment manager.

On Thursday, the two said Sanlam will receive a total of 125.7 million shares in Ninety One as part of the arrangement.

This allocation represents a 12.3% equity stake in Ninety One. Excluding ARC Financial Services Investments Pty Ltd, Sanlam will hold an effective shareholding of about 8.9% in Ninety One.

Shares in Sanlam were up 0.1% to ZAR84.93 midday Thursday in Johannesburg. Ninety One shares were up 2.7% to ZAR33.67. In London, Ninety One was up 2.6% to 144.10 pence.

By Artwell Dlamini, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

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