Reverses last year’s losses of US$32.6 million

The Barbados-based Sagicor Financial Company has made a major turn, reversing last year’s losses to post a whopping 380 per cent jump in net income for the first nine months of its 2021 financial year.

Sagicor Financial is the parent company of the Sagicor subsidiaries throughout the region, including Jamaica. The company achieved net income of US$91.2 million for the period under review, reversing the loss of US$32.6 million for the same period in 2020.

Sagicor Financial, which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, registered a 44 per cent rise in its total net revenue, which increased to US$1.72 billion for the period January to September 2021, up from US$1.20 billion for the same period in 2020. Sagicor has three main operating segments, namely Sagicor Life (includes southern Caribbean), Sagicor Jamaica (which it owns 49.1 per cent), and Sagicor Life USA.

Disaggregating the revenue performance

Sagicor Life USA reported revenues of US$782.7 million for the first nine months of 2021, an increase of 104 per cent over 2020. Revenues at Sagicor Life and Sagicor Jamaica were both up by 13 per cent to US$374.5 million and US$516.3 million.

In terms of net income, Sagicor USA reported US$40.2 million for the nine-month period, up by 212 per cent over the loss of US$35.9 million for the first nine months of 2020. The net income of Sagicor Life increased by 77 per cent to US$22.1 million.

Sagicor Jamaica reported an 11 per cent increase to US$44 million from US$39.5 million. Sagicor Group President and CEO, Dodridge Miller was pleased with the performance saying the period was an excellent quarter of profitability and growth.

According to Miller, “once again, Sagicor Life USA posted a very strong quarter reflecting continued progress in our US strategy as that business grows towards scale”.

He added: “Sagicor Jamaica also grew compared to Q3 2020, underpinned by new life insurance sales and positive emergence from our actuarial reserves. Sagicor Life, our southern Caribbean segment, delivered good profitability despite lockdowns from the pandemic across select markets.”

He noted that, in addition to the strong performance, Sagicor reached yet another milestone as its total assets surpassed $10 billion for the first time in the Group’s history. Sagicor said its board approved and declared a quarterly dividend of US$0.05625 per common share, which will be paid on December 17, 2021, to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 26, 2021.

This is the eighth dividend payment Sagicor has paid to its shareholders since becoming a publicly listed company on the Toronto Stock Exchange, said the company.

Positive outlook for the fourth quarter

In reporting on its outlook for the fourth quarter of 2021, Miller said the group’s financial results in the third quarter of 2021 reflect continued normalization of operations in our markets, positive emergence from our in-force life insurance portfolios, as well as continued robust growth in our US segment.

Sagicor explained that, “the economies in which we operate are seeing positive signs of returns to normal economic activity, including a more positive outlook for tourism in the upcoming winter season. However, it is unclear when that recovery will fully mitigate the impact of the pandemic. We will continue to monitor the situation and anticipate resuming specific guidance with respect to earnings targets when the timing of economic recovery becomes more certain”.

Sagicor said its share buyback programme, which is called a Normal Course Issuer Bid in Canada, repurchased 2,334,900 shares in the third quarter of 2021 for a total cost of approximately US$11.6 million.

Since the start of the programme in June 2020, the company has repurchased 6,759,521 shares in the open market for cancellation for an aggregate purchase price of approximately US$32.2 million as at the third quarter of 2021. The number of issued and outstanding common shares at September 30, 2021 was 143,346,84.