Can new boss David Munro fix ailing Liberty?
Despite the insurer’s dropping market share and dismal performance, analysts hold out hope for a change of fortune
All eyes are on new Liberty CEO David Munro to turn around the ailing fortunes of the insurer, which has lost market share to rivals Sanlam, Old Mutual, MMI and even relative newcomer Discovery. Liberty’s share of the market dropped to 23% in 2016 from 27% three years prior as the new policies it wrote failed to keep pace with those of other insurers, JPMorgan estimates show. This caught up with the company in March, when it reported a 55% decline to 788.9c in fully diluted basic EPS for the year to December. Excluding one-off items softened the blow, with earnings down 38% to 904.5c. Liberty parent Standard Bank installed corporate & investment banking (CIB) head Munro as CEO after the insurer’s board had a quarrel with then CEO Thabo Dloti in May over the first steps he needed to take to stem the bleeding. "Munro was instrumental in driving the improvements in Standard Bank CIB’s earnings and return on equity, and in my view should be very capable of driving Liberty’s turnaround s...
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