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Momentum Metropolitan Holdings (MMH) says death claims in the 19 months to December 2021 have eaten up one year of good profits. The insurance group would normally pay around R600 million in death claims across its businesses in a month. But it has been paying roughly R1 billion more each month because of Covid-19. Even in "good months" between waves, it still paid about R200 million more than usual.
"With Omicron… we are relieved that things are a little bit normal. But it's not as if we are not still losing a little bit more money," said MMH chief financial officer Risto Ketola.
This time around, the pandemic deaths hit the hardest in MMH's biggest business, Momentum Life. It is the business that MMH usually expects to contribute most of the group's profit.
