THE PERFORMANCE of the Life of Jamaica (LOJ) group to the end of September remained steady, according to a joint statement by chairman J. Arthur Bethell and president and chief executive officer Richard O. Byles. Consolidated earnings were $930.1 million, or 28.3 per cent better than the outcome for the same period last year when net profits of $724.8 million were generated, they said. Their statement accompanied the unaudited nine-month results for the company to the end of September.
The consolidated earnings to the end of September represents diluted earnings per share of $0.34, as against $0.31 for the same period in 2003, an improvement of 10.0 per cent.
The performance for the first three quarters of the year shows an improvement over the level for the first half. The company earned net profits attributable to stockholders of $634.2 million for the first half, a 22 per cent improvement over the first half of the prior year.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE GAINS
In 2003, LOJ benefited from the acquisition of Island Life Insurance Company Limited at the beginning of April, high interest rates and substantial foreign exchange gains. In 2004, the statement said, "the results are driven by very strong new business and capital gains realised from actively trading our securities portfolios. The current results also make provision for the doubling of premium and investment tax rates."
LOJ's Individual Life new business annualised premium income (API) for the nine-month period was $581.7 million, exceeding target by 27.6 per cent. The new business (API) for the corresponding period in 2003 was $370.4 million. The company wrote about 35 per cent of the industry-wide new business (API) for the year so far. This performance manifests the motivation of the sales team as well as the launch of two new products. In January it rolled-out the 'Triple Protector' life policy, and in July a new universal life product, 'Ultra Life'.
Sagicor Life of the Cayman Islands Ltd, a subsidiary, also recorded excellent sales during the period, the statement said. New business was also seen in the Employee Benefits area, where new API, including single premium annuities, was $556.6 million. This was more than twice the business written for the same period last year and 65 per cent better than the target for 2004.
On November 4, 2004 LOJ announced it had signed irrevocable agreements with Industrial Financial Holdings Ltd, British Caribbean Insurance Company and Raiders Inc, to acquire their shareholdings in Pan Caribbean Financial Services Ltd (PCFS). Life of Jamaica will own seven per cent of this amount and pass the balance of 36 per cent to its parent company Sagicor Financial Corporation. Com-bined with its current shareholding of seven per cent and the 37 per cent it has contracted to acquire from First Life in a previously announced transaction, LOJ will eventually hold 51 per cent of PCFS.
