Has excess capital of R3,5bn after it more than doubled 2009 profit.

Sanlam (JSE:SLM) plans to invest 18 to 20% of excess capital in growth opportunities to build its African footprint through acquisitions and partnerships.

The country's second-biggest insurer has excess capital of R3,5 billion after it more than doubled 2009 profit thanks to better returns on equity investments and as it built up new customers while existing clients kept their insurance policies.

 "We'll look at other opportunities ... If we can't find them, we'll return capital to shareholders. Either through buybacks, depending on where the price is, or in six months we'll consider a special dividend," CEO Johan van Zyl said yesterday

The insurer said it expects the first half of 2010 to be better than a year ago after normalised headline earnings per share for the year to end-December jumped 133% to 218,9 cents, in line with its forecast of a 130 to 140% rise.

Van Zyl said most of the excess capital earmarked for growth opportunities would be used in Africa in the form of small acquisitions and partnerships. Aside from Nigeria, Sanlam also operates in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia.

Sanlam, which also operates in India and the UK, declared a dividend of 104 cents, 6% up from 2008's dividend of 98 cents.

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