CIC Insurance Group has cautioned investors to brace for a marked decline in its full-year 2025 earnings, pointing to mounting claims and the absence of a once-off KSh 1 billion land revaluation gain that flattered last year’s figures. The notice arrives scarcely a week after the insurer confirmed the disposal of land valued at roughly KSh 1.8 billion to shore up liquidity, following a subdued first half weighed down by squeezed underwriting margins.
In a disclosure issued under Capital Markets rules, CIC indicated that profit after tax for the year ended December 2025 will be at least 25 per cent lower than in 2024. The board attributed the anticipated drop chiefly to the lack of repeat fair value gains booked the previous year and a rise in claims across its portfolio.
The timing is telling. Only days earlier, the group announced the sale of land parcels in Kiambu and Kajiado counties worth about KSh 1.8 billion, part of a wider strategy to strengthen cash buffers and recalibrate its asset base. The move underscores liquidity pressures even as headline earnings have been propped up by investment returns.
Signals of strain were already evident in the first half of 2025. Although insurance revenue continued its upward trajectory, underwriting performance deteriorated as claims climbed, dragging down the insurance service result. Investment income increasingly carried the burden of supporting overall profitability.
That pattern was clear in 2024. CIC posted profit after tax of KSh 2.85 billion, nearly double the prior year, but much of the surge stemmed from non-core items. Fair value gains on investment properties contributed KSh 1.01 billion, largely from the revaluation of its Kiambu land. Foreign exchange gains of KSh 1.37 billion and stronger interest income further boosted reported earnings.
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Beneath the surface, however, underwriting margins remained fragile. The insurance service result slipped to KSh 344 million in 2024 from KSh 788 million the year before, pointing to structural pressure in the core insurance business despite the buoyant headline profit.
In 2025, that buffer has thinned. Without the revaluation gain and with claims costs climbing, the group’s underlying earnings profile has come into sharper focus. While the board characterised the claims trend as part of normal insurance cycle volatility, investors reacted swiftly, sending CIC shares down more than 21 per cent in brisk trading.
This is the company’s first profit warning since 2023 and places it among a growing list of NSE-listed firms signalling softer earnings. Over the past year, at least 11 listed companies have issued similar alerts, reflecting strain across multiple sectors.
Despite the near-term turbulence, CIC maintains that its capital position remains sound and that its long-term strategy, including the 2026 to 2030 plan, stays firmly on course.
