South African insurer pumping R1.31 billion into Ireland

OUTsurance’s Irish operations are expanding rapidly, with growth written premiums having jumped 197.77% in one year.

To build on this momentum, OUTsurance has committed to injecting €10 million (R186.78 million) per year in share capital over five years until 2029 to support its Irish expansion, amounting to €50 million (R834.82 million).

To support the capital requirements for this expansion, OUTsurance will inject an additional €20 million (R373.57 million) into its Irish operations in late 2026.

This means the group will be injecting €70 million, or R1.31 billion, into Ireland over a five-year period.

This was revealed in OUTsurance’s results for the year through June 2026, which showed a strong performance across the group.

OUTsurance reported an 11.73% jump in insurance revenue to R41.49 billion, and a profit of R6.18 billion for the year, up 18.41% from 2025.

Its earnings per share rose 19.27% to 365.2 cents, with headline earnings per share up 23.53% to 368.5 cents.

These strong results came despite the group contending with major weather and catastrophe claims in Australia and South Africa during the year.

Australia, where OUTsurance operates through Youi, suffered two major natural catastrophe events that totalled a net ultimate loss of R1.06 billion.

The Youi group’s insurance revenue still grew 11.9% to R25.24 billion, though its operating profit fell by 6.47% to R2.81 billion.

In South Africa, the group contended with severe hail in Gauteng and storms across the Cape regions that resulted in combined losses of R315 million.

OUTsurance’s South African insurance revenue rose 7.6% to R14.36 billion, driven by a strong performance in Personal (up 6.1%) and Business insurance (up 12.4%).

South African operating profit rose by a substantial 56.28% to R5.09 billion.

The standout segment in these results was Ireland, which saw its insurance revenue rise from R97 million in 2025 to R521 million in 2026, up 437.11% year-on-year.

However, the group remains loss-making, with an operating loss of R489 million and a normalised loss of R395 million.

OUTsurance said these losses reflect the upfront expense structure, acquisition costs, and unearned premium buildup during the business’s launch phase.