Discovery growth persists

Johannesburg - An aggressive growth strategy has seen financial services group Discovery Holdings' headline earnings rise by 54% during the six months to end-December.

It's medical aid and life insurance subsidiaries, Discovery Health and Discovery Life, have been forceful competitors in their respective markets. Discovery Health reported a 23% increase in new premium income, while Discovery Life reported a 2% decline. However, both businesses reported an increase in inflows of 14% and 7% respectively.

"The performance of Discovery Life was pleasing despite the current difficult economic environment," said group CEO Adrian Gore. "The company has enhanced its competitive position in the market with a 24% market-share of all broker business, and a 26% market share in the large policies market, which is Discovery Life's core focus."

Investors will also be pleased with the performance of Discovery Invest, the group's asset management business. It saw a 137% increase in assets under management, bringing the total value to R6.5bn.

Gore said Discovery Invest is in the process of developing a specialist franchise unit that will target large investment brokers in an attempt to grow market-share

During a results presentation later on Wednesday, Gore will probably offer more insight into Discovery's international operations which are expected to drive the group's growth in coming years.

The group declared an interim dividend of 33c per share, up 29.4%.

During early trade on Wednesday morning, Discovery's shares were up 0.4% (13c) to 3 343c per share.

- Fin24.com