Outsurance making a killing in South Africa
Outsurance expects earnings to shoot up around 20% in its latest financial year, driven by its property and casualty insurance portfolios.
The company was founded in 1998 as a short-term insurance provider, with a direct model to cut out traditional broker networks.
It also pioneered the cash-back system, where clients would be rewarded for having no claims, with a portion of their premiums being returned.
Outsurance has expanded since its founding, with a global presence through Youi in Australia and operations in Ireland.
The group said in a trading statement that these operations saw success “due to higher underwriting margins resulting from lower claims and cost-to-income ratios.”
“There was a substantial reduction in the share-based payments expense due to the replacement of the Employee Share Option Scheme with the Conditional Share Plan,” it said.
The group expects normalised earnings to rise by between 18% and 24%, up from approximately R5 billion in the 2025 financial period.
The largest gain in normalised earnings is expected to come from its South African operations, with property and casualty portfolios in the country rising by 40% to 46%.
Outsurance said it had recorded pleasing growth in premiums in these operations, despite lower premium inflation across the group.
While Youi in Australia is expected to see earnings growth, Outsurance said the business’s performance had been dampened by higher natural-peril losses.
“Youi’s strong operational performance was dampened by the higher natural perils losses, which particularly impacted the results of the first half of the current financial year,” it said.
In Ireland, the company said it has “continued to increase its presence in the Irish car and home insurance market.”
“The monthly operating loss profile started to decline as the business moved through its peak loss period in the first half of the financial year.”
Outsurance Life is also forecasting strong growth, with earnings expected to increase by between 17% and 23%.
The company is forecasting an increase in its normalised earnings per share, which it expects to rise by between 15% to 21%.
Its headline earnings per share are also expected to increase by between 21% and 26%, up from R2.98 per share in 2025.
Outsurance said it considers normalised earnings per share the key indicator of the group’s operational performance.
The company’s full financial results for the year ended 30 June are expected to be published on 10 September 2026.
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