CIC Insurance H1 profit down 17 pct on listing costs

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan group CIC Insurance posted a 17 percent drop in first-half pretax profit to 470 million shillings, hurt by one-off costs related to its bourse listing.

CIC, which listed its shares earlier this year, said on Thursday its earnings should improve in the second-half due to the absence of those costs and improving economic fundamentals.

Inflation and exchange rates have stabilised this year, while commercial lending rates have started to fall after the central bank began cutting rates in July after inflation fell.

CIC's gross written premiums rose 27 percent to 4 billion shillings while investment income surged 75 percent to 471 million, it said.

Insurance is viewed as a growth sector in the east African nation, because of low penetration rates, with only about 8 percent of the population having any form of insurance cover.

Another Kenyan insurer, CFC, has reported a 23 percent drop in first-half profit.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cic-insurance-h1-profit-down-17-pct-listing-064720514--sector.html

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