KENYA RE REGISTERS REMARKABLE GROWTH IN ITS HALF YEAR PROFITS

 Kenya Reinsurance Corporation (Kenya Re) half year profit before tax for the period which ended on 30th June 2020 grew by fifty two percent to stand at Kshs. 2.09 billion. This is in comparison to Kshs.1.37 billion generated in the same period last year.

The business from fire mainly contributed to this remarkable performance by recording the highest gross premium of Ksh.2.59 billion. In addition, the gross premium from bond grew to Kshs. 144 million, the life business reached Kshs. 909 million, while the non-life business realised Kshs. 8.16 billion. The overall growth of most business lines was positive.  The company attributed this growth to aggressive fair sourcing of business. By the same token, the shareholders’ funds increased by three per cent to stand at Kshs.33.1 billion.

The positive results come a month after Kenya Re’s national scale financial strength rating was affirmed by the Global Credit Ratings agency (GCR). The AA+ _(KE) rating was achieved based on the corporation’s strength in risk capitalization, liquidity and business profile.

On the other hand, the investment income dropped slightly by two percent to stand at Kshs. 1.905, compared to Kshs. 2.02 billion in 2019. The company attributed this to the adverse effect of the Covid-19 pandemic which has significantly affected the investment environment.

“We are indeed pleased about our half year results thus far; the growth in profit is largely attributed to strong risk adjusted capitalization, markets diversification, low risk investment portfolio, a diversified business portfolio, prudent underwriting and effective expenses management among other factors. The Covid-19 pandemic has slightly affected our investment income but we remain optimistic that we shall report positive results in the next half of the year,” said Kenya Re Managing Director, Mr. Jadiah Mwarania.

 According to Mr. Mwarania, Kenya Re continues to consistently anchor its business on five strategic pillars that have helped it make major strides in the reinsurance business. These pillars are:  financial performance, business development, business process improvement, enhanced risk management as well as people and culture.

The corporation continues to implement relevant strategies in order to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Already, it has a business continuity plan in place. The plan has accelerated adjustment to the disruption, allowing for instance the staff members to work away from the office.  In the same vein, its robust virtual private network (VPN) connectivity allows the staff members to connect from different localities, besides accessing all the systems and resources they would normally access while at office. The corporation is also optimally utilizing the use of digital communication platforms including : Microsoft Teams, Webex, WhatsApp messaging, emails and telephone calls in order to frequently keep in touch with the cedants and brokers, hence enhancing visibility.