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| Good Progress: Liberty CEO Thabo Dloti presents the group’s results in Johannesburg on Friday. Picture: Martin Rhodes |
INSURER Liberty is finalising talks to acquire a business in Ghana and hopes to enter the West African country in the third quarter of this year.
"We are making progress in Ghana, very good progress. We are still confident we will make progress in Nigeria," Liberty CEO Thabo Dloti said on Friday after the release of the company’s six-months results to end-June.
"In Ghana, we are looking at insurance and asset management. We have made more progress on the asset management side."
Liberty, which has a presence in about 15 African countries, has had difficulty in clinching deals.
It had expressed interest in acquiring financial services firm Alexander Forbes as part of a plan to grow in the corporate market.
Last year, it had an interest in Guardrisk, a business previously owned by Alexander Forbes, but nothing came through.
On Alexander Forbes, Mr Dloti said: "I think it’s known we had an interest. We are trying to grow in the corporate market not only in South Africa. We did express interest but it did not come through."
Liberty is the largest writer of risk business in South Africa’s retail affluent market. It still believes that there is room for growth in this market, but it has been looking to expand in the corporate market.
Deputy CEO Steve Braudo said the company was expanding its distribution channel and recruiting advisers that could sell both to retail and corporate clients.
"In the corporate space we have now built a direct model," Mr Braudo said.
Liberty is also trying to build a solid health offering in South Africa and the rest of Africa. It bought out minorities in Liberty Health for R133m as it looks to refine the business.
Liberty Health is active in medical administration in South Africa and in the rest of Africa, where it provides medical insurance.
Liberty Health has suffered losses and the company has been restructuring the business to position it for growth. Liberty Health narrowed its loss to R22m in the six months to end-June this year compared to R26m in the previous corresponding period. Liberty Corporate grew headline earnings 61.5% to R84m, and Liberty Africa Insurance posted a 56% earnings rise to R28m.
In insurance, the retail segment reported a 3% rise in headline earnings to R795m, and the institutional segment posted R90m headline earnings compared to R44m in the previous period.
Stanlib reported a 5% rise to R284m in headline earnings in the six months under review, and Libfin markets posted headline earnings of R108m compared to R54m.
Source: BusinessDay
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