Insurer Sanlam said on Thursday that it will purchase the remaining 53.37% stake in\u00a0Saham Group for $1.05 billion, through a unit of its joint venture with Santam<\/p>\n
The group said it intends to strengthen its position in sub-Saharan and North Africa with this transaction.<\/p>\n
Saham\u2019s insurance business, which started its strategic development in Africa in 2010, is now present in 26 countries through 35 insurance companies.<\/p>\n
Ian Kirk, Sanlam Group\u2019s CEO said: \u201cWe welcome this opportunity to strengthen our investment in the Kingdom of Morocco, a major African gateway and a country which enjoys institutional and macro-economic stability.”<\/p>\n
“Our investments alongside Saham Group reflects a mutually beneficial intra-African partnership, and we hope to work together on other major projects in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also on Thursday (8 March 2018), Sanlam reported a 1% drop in headline earnings to R9.8 billion in financial results for the year ended December 2017.<\/p>\n
“We anticipated that we would face significant headwinds in 2017. Our core South African market has experienced significant political and policy uncertainty since 2015, which severely suppressed business and investor confidence.<\/p>\n
“Private sector investment largely stalled as a result, with the economy entering a period of pedestrian growth,” Sanlam said.<\/p>\n
It said that downgrades in South Africa’s sovereign credit ratings to below investment grade amidst regular reports of the extent of corruption in the country, dealt further blows to an already fragile environment. “This largely prevented South Africa from sharing in the benefits of an improved global economic environment.”<\/p>\n
It noted that sentiment changed abruptly in December 2017 following the outcome of the ANC’s national elective conference, “and renewed optimism that South Africa’s challenges will be addressed through close cooperation between government, business and labour”.<\/p>\n
The South African general insurance market experienced the highest level of weather-related claims in recorded history during 2017. “Santam, being the largest general insurer in South Africa, commensurately experienced a significant deterioration in the underwriting results of its property line of business,” it said.<\/p>\n