Jubilee Health Insurance posts Sh535m profit

Jubilee Insurance House. FILE PHOTO | NMG

By PATRICK ALUSHULA
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Summary

• The results, coming in the period of Covid-19 disruptions that cut the number of hospital visits, sets the company on strong footing in an insurance class where many entities have been returning losses.
• Jubilee filings to the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) shows that the health business retuned an underwriting profit —the difference between premiums collected and claims paid out— of Sh560.945 million.

Jubilee Health Insurance has posted Sh534.58 million net profit in nine months to September, marking the first separate disclosure since being delinked from the general insurance entity.

The results, coming in the period of Covid-19 disruptions that cut the number of hospital visits, sets the company on strong footing in an insurance class where many entities have been returning losses.

Jubilee filings to the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) shows that the health business retuned an underwriting profit —the difference between premiums collected and claims paid out— of Sh560.945 million.

The regional insurer in late 2019 split Jubilee Insurance Company of Kenya Limited into three companies — Jubilee Health Insurance, Jubilee General Insurance and Jubilee Life Insurance and therefore there is no direct comparison for previous similar period.

Jubilee’s profit came in the period general insurers posted a record underwriting profit of Sh1.368 billion from a loss of Sh231.6 million in the preceding similar period. This means that the underwriting profit by Jubilee is an equivalent of 40.98 per cent of the underwriting profit booked by the entire sector from the medical insurance class.

Claims paid by medical insurers declined by 6.2 per cent to Sh14.72 billion and boosted the underwriting profit from this class of insurance as many people avoided hospitals for fear of contracting Covid-19.

“Medical class made the highest underwriting profit of Sh1.37 billion which may be attributed to fewer hospital visits due to Covid-19,” said IRA.

Jubilee Health Insurance accounted for 6.37 per cent of the total Sh105.09 billion gross written premiums for general insurers in the review period.

The market share by the health entity, when added to the 2.23 per cent that was controlled by Jubilee General Insurance gives Jubilee a stake of 8.6 per cent and makes it the market leader in general insurance business.

Jubilee is trailed by CIC (8.1 per cent), UAP (8.07 per cent), APA (6.94 per cent), GA (6.15 per cent) and Britam General which takes 6.14 per cent of gross written premiums.