Momentum firing on all cylinders

Momentum has reported an outstanding performance for the 2026 financial year, with the insurance giant seeing a 16% increase in basic earnings.

Momentum released its results for the year through June 2026 on Thursday, 17 September, which revealed a strong performance across its operating segments.

This was a milestone year for the company, in which it was awarded the Bonitas Medical Aid Scheme administration contract.

This saw the group’s market share go from 22% to 30% essentially overnight, making it the second-largest health insurer in South Africa.

Now, Momentum has capped off this momentous year with a set of stellar results.

For the 2026 financial year, the group’s insurance revenue grew by 2.83% to R61.40 billion, while its net insurance and investment result rose by 3.26% to R18.33 billion.

Momentum’s earnings for the year were up 11.33% to R6.81 billion, with basic earnings per share rising 16% to 516.2 cents.

The insurer’s total group embedded value (EV) profit reached R12.91 billion, resulting in a return on EV of 22.3%, up from 17.9% in 2025.

Momentum referred to this as a “record set of results”, pointing out that its normalised headline earnings surpassed R7 billion a year earlier than expected.

These results reflect a strong operational performance from most of Momentum’s business units, five of which now contribute earnings of over R1 billion.

The group said its life insurance earnings were positively impacted by improved persistency and alterations experience in Momentum Retail.

It also benefited from fewer onerous contracts and strong annuity profits in Momentum Investments. 

The company highlighted positive mortality and expense experience and fewer onerous contracts in Metropolitan Life, as well as strong underwriting results from Momentum Corporate.

Notably, the company finally achieved a financial turnaround at its Indian division, which reached a positive normalised headline earnings contribution of R22 million.

This marks a significant improvement from the R67 million loss recorded in the 2025 financial year.

On the back of these strong results, Momentum declared a final dividend of 120 cents per share, bringing its total dividend for the year to 230 cents.