Co-op Bank CEO buys 20 million shares in CIC Insurance Group

Co-operative Bank of Kenya’s Chief Executive Officer Gideon Muriuki bought an additional 20.1 million shares in CIC Insurance Group in the year ended December, cementing his position as the top individual investor in the insurer.

Disclosures in CIC’s latest annual report shows that Mr Muriuki raised his holdings to 158 million shares in the review period from 137.8 million the year before, with the additional shares’ worth about Sh45 million based on the current share price. The share purchase raised his stake to six percent from the previous 5.3 percent.

Other individual investors including CIC’s chairman Nelson Kuria –who previously led the insurer as chief executive— also bought more shares in what is seen as an expression of confidence about the insurer’s prospects.

CIC’s performance has improved in recent years under the leadership of the current chief executive Patrick Nyaga who was hired from Co-op Bank where he previously held the role of finance and strategy director.

Mr Kuria’s holdings jumped to 16.2 million shares from 15.7 million shares, but his stake was unchanged at 0.6 percent. Ms Welton Weda bought an additional 2.25 million shares, raising her holdings to 26.8 million shares (one percent) from 24.5 million shares (0.9 percent).

Mr Nyaga is also a shareholder in the insurer, maintaining his holdings at 12.8 million shares (0.5 percent stake) in the review period.

CIC is set to pay a Sh0.13 per share dividend amounting to Sh340 million after posting record Sh1.44 billion net profit for year ended December 2023, with the dividend maintained at the same level from the prior year.

The record profit was the first full year under new accounting rules dubbed International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 17 that in January last year replaced IFRS 4 that had been in use for 18 years.

The new standard saw CIC restate its 2022 net profit to Sh157.14 million from an earlier reported figure of Sh1.09 billion. The restatement was to make last year’s performance comparable with that of 2022, under IFRS 17.

The Sh1.44 billion net profit beats the previous record of Sh1.14 billion that CIC posted in 2015, which was a performance that was attributed to business realignment in general business, group life business and investment portfolio in that year.

CIC said the Sh340 million proposed dividend, which is the same as that of the previous year, will be paid on or about July 8, 2024 to shareholders registered on the group’s register at the close of business on June 4, 2024Top shareholder, Co-operative Insurance Society Limited will receive Sh252.6 million as dividends for its 74.3 percent stake.

Insurance service results, previously disclosed as net earned premiums, hit Sh788.23 million last year compared with negative Sh553.88 million in the previous year, driven by 22.7 percent rise in insurance revenue to Sh25.4 billion.