Old Mutual has reported strong new business growth for the six months to end-June, even as market volatility is set to pull down its headline profit measure. In a voluntary operating update, the group said Life annual premium equivalent sales rose 21% to R7.86bn, driven by stronger group risk and annuity sales in Old Mutual Corporate and higher living annuity and endowment sales in Wealth Management. Stripping out one-off Corporate risk sales not expected to repeat at the same scale in the second half, growth was a still-solid 12%.
Gross flows climbed 21% to R128.9bn, led by inflows into Wealth Management’s local platform business and the first-time inclusion of 10X Investments, alongside stronger third-party inflows at Old Mutual Investments. Africa Regions grew on the back of robust money market inflows in Malawi and improved unit trust flows in East Africa. The value of new business, a measure of the profitability of sales written during the period, rose 32% to R569m, while gross written premiums grew a more modest 3% to R14.9bn, as growth at Old Mutual Insure was offset by currency movements and a deliberate pull-back in renewals in Africa Regions.
Against that operational strength, the group’s profit guidance points the other way. Results from operations, which Old Mutual treats as the primary gauge of underlying segment performance, is expected to come in 2% to 12% higher, at between R5.039bn and R5.533bn. But adjusted headline earnings, the group’s primary profit metric, is guided 25% to 35% lower, at R2.733bn to R3.153bn, on weaker shareholder investment returns.
| Metric | H1 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Life APE sales | R7.86bn | +21% |
| Gross flows | R128.9bn | +21% |
| Value of new business | R569m | +32% |
| Gross written premiums | R14.9bn | +3% |
| Results from operations | R5.039bn-R5.533bn | +2% to +12% |
| Adjusted headline earnings | R2.733bn-R3.153bn | -25% to -35% |
The gap between strong sales and weaker adjusted earnings comes down largely to markets rather than the underlying business. Old Mutual said its shareholder investment portfolio tracked equity and bond indices over the period, and attributed the weaker returns to sharp risk-off conditions linked to the ongoing Middle East conflict, which weighed on both asset classes. Results from operations per share is guided 6% to 16% higher, at 120.3c to 131.7c, supported by stronger revenue in Wealth Management and Old Mutual Investments on a larger average base of assets under management and lower central costs, though this was partly offset by weaker underwriting earnings at Old Mutual Insure against a strong prior-year comparative, and continued investment to scale Old Mutual Banking.
The inclusion of 10X Investments in this period’s flows reflects a deal that has been in the making since October 2025, when Old Mutual agreed to buy a majority stake in the passive investment manager for R2.2bn from Old Mutual Private Equity and DiGAME Investments. The transaction, unconditionally cleared by the Competition Tribunal in January 2026, brought a business with more than R68bn in assets under management and over 60,000 clients into the group’s Wealth Management arm, with 10X retaining its own brand and management team.
Headline earnings per share, guided at 91.6c to 101.4c against 97.5c a year earlier, tell a different story again: the group said this measure benefited from a strong performance in Zimbabwe, which is excluded from the adjusted figure. That performance follows the resolution of a six-year headache for the group in the country. Old Mutual’s shares had been frozen on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange since 2020, after Harare suspended trading to contain currency instability, and it was only on 12 August 2026 that the group completed the migration of its secondary listing to the dollar-denominated Victoria Falls Stock Exchange, restoring tradability for roughly 30,000 Zimbabwean shareholders.