UAP Old Mutual merger starts bearing fruit
UAP old Mutual has reduced its exposures by Sh1 billion by cutting off 100 high-risk accounts according to Group CEO Peter Mwangi.
This helped the firm secure an impressive 46.5 percent in net margin growth from Sh826 million last year to Sh1.2 billion.
Mr. Mwangi said that the firm’s management looks forward to the continued realization of the merger benefits creating a strong integrated financial services business and bolstering returns to shareholders.
The company books show that the reversal of two consecutive years of bear markets for the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) had a notable impact on our investment income due to the appreciation of our equities portfolio.
Despite the 33-storied UAP Old Mutual Towers still struggling to fill empty floors UAP says rental incomes rose.
“Stable returns from fixed income and an increase in rental income from our investment properties contributed to a 27.9 percent growth in investment income compared to the prior year,” UAP boss said.
According to Financial Standard, UAP Old Mutual has employed the services of four real estate companies – Knight Frank, Broll, Regent, and Axis – to help find tenants.
UAP Old Mutual Towers which opened its doors two years ago has eight empty floors with the rest largely occupied by the parent company’s Old Mutual and UAP Insurance offices.
UAP increased money allocated to government debt from Sh11.9 billion to Sh12.1 billion but reduce money lent to corporates from Sh1.8 billion to Sh1.5 billion largely due to the lack of activity in the corporate bond section over last year.
One-off expenditure from firing staff in March helped the insurance and investment firm realize cost savings.
However, ‘operating expenses grew by 8.2 percent which compares favorably to the 2017 average inflation rate of 8.02 percent in Kenya’.
