Old Mutual Kenya H1 2026 Profit Hits Sh882m on Repricing

In Short

• Old Mutual Holdings reported a half-year 2026 net profit of Sh882 million, up from Sh5 million in the same period last year.
• The insurer says gains came after repricing its medical insurance book and dropping underpriced customer accounts.
• Underwriting profit improved to Sh287 million from a Sh303 million loss.

What Happened

Old Mutual said its profit for the six months to June 2026 rose to Sh882 million. That figure is higher than its full-year 2025 profit of Sh856 million.

Management linked the jump to changes in its medical insurance business. The company said it disposed of “underpriced” customer accounts, meaning policies where premiums were too low for the real health risk and expected claims costs.

Old Mutual CEO Arthur Oginga said the insurer repriced the medical portfolio account by account. Some customers left after prices went up, and the group said it accepted that outcome because some accounts were loss-making.

The repricing helped the medical business post a 2.8 percent profit margin, its first positive return from underwriting since 2023. Underwriting profit came in at Sh287 million, compared with a Sh303 million loss in the prior period, even as insurance revenue stayed flat at Sh16.3 billion.

Old Mutual also said it is using artificial intelligence, meaning software that spots patterns in data, to manage fraud and waste. It reported a 69 percent fall in confirmed fraud losses year on year and said it prevented Sh60 million in attempted fraud in the first half.

Why It Matters

Medical cover is a high-volume but low-margin line for many insurers, and underpricing is common in competitive markets. Dropping bad accounts and repricing can lift profitability, but it can also shrink topline growth if customers churn.

The fraud update also matters for health insurance unit economics. Better detection can reduce claims leakage, which is money paid out due to false or inflated claims.

Beyond Kenya, Old Mutual said it is repositioning its regional footprint, exiting South Sudan and Tanzania while focusing more on Uganda. It also did not declare an interim dividend, as it works through balance sheet restructuring to return to dividend distribution.