Insurer Old Mutual, rocked by weak new business volumes and hefty business interruption payouts as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, said it expects to swing into a loss for the first half of the financial year.

The group expects a loss of R5.62bn-R6.74bn in the six months to end-June, from profit of R5.81bn previously, saying in a trading update it will write down some of its investments due to a deteriorating economic environment...