NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 11- Kenya Reinsurance Corporation Limited has presented the National Treasury with an Sh167.9 million dividend cheque.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani while receiving the cheque said the corporation had fulfilled its obligations to the government despite the challenges occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic that has affected the performance of many companies.
“ I know the significance of this dividend because this is not a common practice here, we have had state agencies and their stories have not been very pleasing but I want to congratulate Kenya RE for its consistent return to the national treasury,” said Yatani.
Kenya Re Managing Director Jadiah Mwarania said that the corporation still managed to make a profit during the review period despite a challenging operating environment.
“We had a difficult year in 2019, where we had so many challenges including to now what is now being compounded with COVID-19 but all the same the corporation managed to achieve both growth and profitability,” said Mwarania.
Kenya Re-board Chairman Chiboli Induli Shakaba further revealed that the corporation has paid over Sh5 billion in taxes to the National Treasury since 2010 and dividend of over Sh1 billion since 2014.
“From 2010-2019, the corporation has paid Sh5.3 billion in various taxes while from 2014-2019 we have paid Sh1.6 billion in dividends to the government,” said Shakaba.
Kenya Re-recorded a 35 percent rise in profit before tax from Sh3.10 billion in 2018 to Sh4.18 billion in 2019.
The growth was attributed to growth in both gross written premiums that rose by 18 percent from sh14.84 billion in 2018 to sh17.52 billion in 2019 and investment income that grew by 10 percent from Sh3.39 billion in 2018 to Sh 3.71 billion in 2019.
Net earned premiums rose by 9 percent from Sh14.21 billion in 2018 to Sh15.53 billion in 2019. the key drivers included market identification and focus, diversification of business portfolio amongst others.
