UAP Holdings records Sh3.4 billion loss in 2019

UAP Holdings says its loss after tax for 2019 widened to Sh3.4 billion from Sh518 million in the previous year.

Group Chief Executive Arthur Oginga attributed the sharp drop in profitability to a depressed property market and a tough operating environment in South Sudan.

"The decline was mainly driven by one-off fair value write-downs on the Group’s investment property portfolio due to the softening of the markets in Kenya and Uganda and prevailing operating environment challenges in South Sudan,” Oginga said while releasing the results yesterday.

He said that “excluding the property business performance” the profit before tax for 2019 rose by 48.7 per cent to Sh1.7 billion up from Sh847 million recorded in 2018.

The property business reported a loss before tax of Sh4.88 billion, representing a decline of 268 per cent.

The general insurance business posted a profit before tax of Sh2.3 billion, which was a 133 per cent improvement form 2018.

Net earned premiums increased by 3.8 per cent in 2019. Oginga said the net claims payable increased by 11.8 per cent driven by higher claims in the Kenyan health business owing to the withdrawal of NHIF coverage from several private health institutions.

Investment income fell by 78.3 per cent due to the property valuation write-downs. "We welcome and support the interventions contain the pandemic and stimulate the economy,” he assured investors.