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Numbers up…

02 July 2004 Angelo Coppola

The Liberty group trading update – issued on the same day as they unveiled their new advertising and marketing campaign - which in itself has created quite a stir, bodes well for the business, that went through a rough patch last year.

Results are expected to be announced around and about 11 August.

According the trading update the (un-audited) interim headline earnings per share for 2004 are expected to be materially higher (between 10% and 30%) than the 130 cents per share recorded for the six months ended 30 June 2003.

Total new business premiums are estimated to have increased by approximately 15% (8% on an indexed basis).

Individual new business premiums have continued to grow at a reasonable rate, however a decrease is expected for the first half of 2004 compared with the first half in 2003 in corporate new business.

Net cash flows from insurance operations have remained positive during the first half of 2004, while the increase in management expenses per policy has been contained within the actuarial assumption of 5,5% per annum.

The group's capital position remains strong and embedded value per share is expected to be similar to the value of R57,58 at 31 December 2003.

On the campaign side, Myles Ruck, the group MD has been on a roadshow for some two weeks, promoting the theme that is still customer service – targeting the IFA, the agents generally and then the public.

Ruck says that they are trying to get a more humble approach to do doing business. They want to move away from that perceived arrogance. “No more excuses,” says Ruck, “and it doesn’t involve huge systems development and costs, or rocket science.”

He wants to up the tempo and lift the Liberty Life profile, with a comprehensive advertising campaign planned over the next six to eight weeks.

The campaign is focused on returning calls, mail and emails, responding to queries, and then the ‘hotline’ option, when the target isn’t met, and a complements hotline.

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