OUTsurance Group has delivered a robust set of interim results, lifting normalised earnings by 7.7% to R2.32bn — equivalent to 150.2c per share — for the six months ended December 2025, while rewarding shareholders with both a sharply higher interim dividend and a special payout. The interim dividend was raised 36.2% to 120.7c per share, with an additional special dividend of 30.3c per share declared following the monetisation of non-core assets.
The group’s property and casualty business, housed within subsidiary OUTsurance Holdings — in which the group retains a 92.8% stake — recorded gross written premium growth of 17.4%. Domestic operations and the Australian unit Youi both delivered what management described as pleasing organic growth, though premium inflation has been normalising from prior elevated levels. The rand’s strengthening against the Australian dollar weighed on Youi’s translated premium growth rate, partially obscuring the underlying operational momentum in that market.
The claims ratio in the property and casualty book deteriorated from 53.0% to 58.6% over the period, driven primarily by a surge in retained natural peril claims, which rose to 12.4% of net earned premium from 6.5% a year earlier. The spike was attributed to a combination of catastrophe events and an unusually high frequency of storm activity in Australia. The 2025 calendar year produced above-average insured losses from severe weather events across the country’s eastern seaboard, placing sustained pressure on claims ratios across the industry. The elevated loss experience in the period underscores the geographic risk concentration that comes with Youi’s heavy exposure to Australia’s volatile climate.
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OUTsurance Ireland, the group’s most nascent operation, recorded a normalised loss of R263m, up from R218m in the comparable period. The group expects the Irish unit’s losses to narrow in the second half of the financial year, in line with a previously communicated forecast break-even trajectory. As reported by the Central Bank of Ireland, the Irish non-life insurance market has experienced meaningful premium growth in recent years, driven by rising property values and increased climate-related underwriting caution — conditions that offer a constructive long-term backdrop for a growing entrant such as OUTsurance Ireland, even as short-term losses persist. OUTsurance Life, the group’s domestic life insurance arm, contributed a more positive note, posting good new business growth alongside improved cost efficiency.
The group struck a confident tone on its strategic direction, citing organic growth across South Africa, Australia and Ireland as the cornerstone of its forward outlook, describing the approach as one that supports a geographically diverse and resilient growth profile. The multi-market strategy reflects a deliberate effort to reduce dependence on the South African operating environment, where economic growth remains constrained and consumer disposable income under pressure.
On governance, the group announced that chief executive Herman Bosman and lead independent director Kubandiran Pillay will both step down at the annual general meeting in November 2026. Venessa Naidoo, currently chairperson of the board audit committee, has been appointed as incoming chairperson of both the OUTsurance Group and OUTsurance Holdings boards, effective the day following the AGM.