Britam Holdings Plc has delivered its strongest pre-tax profit in at least a decade in the year ended 31 December 2025, with profit before income tax rising 7.8% to KSh 7.90 billion, capping a four-year earnings recovery that has erased the catastrophic losses of the 2018-2020 cycle.
- •Profit after tax rose 10.0% to KSh 5.54 billion, with basic and diluted earnings per share advancing to KSh 2.18 from KSh 1.98.
- •The result was delivered against a challenging operating environment marked by elevated claims experience, inflationary pressure across the Group's seven-country footprint, and global instability that weighed on several of its regional markets.
- •Insurance revenue grew 10.9% to KSh 41.65 billion, the strongest top-line reading since at least FY2019, yet the insurance service result collapsed 31.8% to KSh 3.46 billion from KSh 5.07 billion a year earlier.
Insurance service expenses rose to KSh 30.86 billion and net reinsurance costs widened to KSh 7.34 billion, with the Board pointing to unfavorable claims in the Medical and Motor portfolios and higher risk retention as the primary causes. Growing revenue faster than the Group can control its claims cost is a problem that has persisted across multiple reporting periods and will define the underwriting agenda under the incoming ASCEND 2026-2030 strategy.
What saved the headline number was the investment book with the net investment income rising 4.2% to KSh 31.87 billion, underpinned by effective interest income of KSh 10.85 billion, interest and dividend income from financial assets at fair value of KSh 10.97 billion, and unrealized fair value gains of KSh 7.54 billion. Investment assets now stand at KSh 220.7 billion, roughly 90% of the Group's KSh 243.8 billion total asset base, up from KSh 84.94 billion in FY2018. That trajectory, near-tripling in seven years, has transformed Britam from an insurer with an investment book into something closer to an investment manager with an insurance operation.
A cash flow caveat deserves attention. Net cash from operating activities fell 38.8% to KSh 3.73 billion from KSh 6.09 billion in FY2024, a sharp deterioration against a backdrop of record profit. The divergence between reported earnings and operating cash generation, which was also negative at KSh 2.30 billion in HY2025, points to timing differences in insurance cash settlements or working capital pressure that the insurer's management has not yet fully addressed in public disclosures.
Total equity grew 19.0% to KSh 35.05 billion, Group retained earnings returned to positive territory at KSh 540 million for the first time since FY2017, and total borrowings have been reduced 90.5% from a peak of KSh 7.96 billion in FY2017 to KSh 757 million.
Despite this, no dividend was declared, the ninth consecutive year without a payout. The legal constraint, a parent-level accumulated deficit of KSh 5.88 billion, may now be on the verge of resolution. The Board resolved on 30 March 2026 to seek shareholder approval for a KSh 5.875 billion reduction of the share premium account, a non-cash capital restructuring designed to extinguish the parent deficit in a single transaction and restore the legal pathway to dividends.
The proposal requires CMA approval, a special resolution at the AGM, High Court confirmation, and Companies Registry registration. If approved, it would be the first such transaction among NSE-listed operating companies and would clear the way for Britam's first dividend since the KSh 0.25 per share paid for FY2019.
