FBC still keen on Mauritius Re
Staff Writer
HARARE, FBC Holdings says plans to set-up reinsurance unit in Mauritius remains on course. The unit will be 100% owned by FBC Reinsurance Ltd.
Chief executive officer John Mushayavanhu at the company’s announcement of its 2019 half year results, said the group has now obtained the required approvals.
With Zimbabwe currently faced with foreign currency shortages, leading to depleted nostro balances; Insurers have seen increased risk of failure to meet claims in particular foreign claims.
According to Mushayavanhu, while the group is up to date in terms of foreign claim payments, regional players are always questioning the sustainability of such in the current environment, hence necessitated the move into Mauritius.
For the interim period under review, FBC Reinsurance and insurance contributions stood at 8% and 4% respectively to the bank’s profitability.
The group highlighted that the launch of a revolutionary user based insurance product, MyDrive, brought about positive growth within the insurance subsidiary resulting in sustained growth in earned insurance premium.
However, despite the challenges weighing down the insurance sector, FBC saw net insurance premiums nearly doubled at $18.5 million from $9.6 million previously.
FBC’s total net income was up 208% to $198.4 million from $64.5 million during the previous period mainly driven by banking subsidiaries.
Net interest income declined 12% from $31 million in the previous period to $27.4 million. As the group continues to make strides on its digitalization strategy, net fees and commission income increased 60% to $32.3 million from $20.1 million.
