Almot Maqolo, Staff Writer 
FIDELITY Life Assurance (Fidelity) recorded a 163 percent surge in insurance contract revenue to $4,4 billion for the half year ended June 30, 2023, buoyed by the significant growth in new policies written and an increase in US dollar-denominated business.
The revenue improvement is from last year’s comparative of $1,7 billion.
This comes as the greenback has become the preferred currency, with the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency recently revealing that 80 percent of transactions in the country, as of last month, are now in US dollars.
“The first half of the year was characterised by rapid deterioration of the local currency and galloping inflation, which led to increased use of foreign currency in domestic transactions. In keeping with that trend, the business experienced an increase in the proportion of foreign currency revenue and operating expenses.
“The proportion of the US dollar business constituted 77 percent of the total insurance contract revenue compared to 25 percent in the same period the prior year,” Fidelity’s chairman, Livingstone Gwata, said in a statement accompanying the financials.
Profit for the half year period grew by 123 percent to $45,4 billion from $20,3 billion in 2022, driven by strong growth in insurance contract revenue and fair value gains in investment properties.
The group, however, recorded a negative insurance service result of $8,7 billion, owing mainly to the higher than insurance revenue growth in service costs due to inflationary pressures in Zimbabwe and the regional operation.
Gwata said despite the turbulence on the international and local terrain, the board and management managed to steer the ship through the rough waters and achieve the set targets for the period under review.
“I am pleased to announce strong performance on the core life and pensions business, which has registered a strong underwriting result almost blending with the dollarising economy, opening of three new branches to strengthen our footprint in the markets we serve for both life company and the funeral services,” he said.
“Significant loan book growth has been witnessed in the micro-lending division through successful unlocking of funding from our financiers.
“Local and international partnerships continue to buttress our business performance and are a key leverage in delivering value to our clientele.”
In the outlook, Gwata said the group expects the economy to continue trading predominantly in foreign currency until confidence in the local currency improves significantly.
newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw
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