Old Mutual names Roger Jardine as new chair to replace Trevor Manuel, reports early momentum for OM Bank

Old Mutual has named former FirstRand chair Roger Jardine as Chairperson-designate to take over from Trevor Manuel when he steps down in June.

Manuel turned 70 in January this year, which is the retirement age for directors as set out by Old Mutual’s Board Charter.

The announcement was made during the group's full-year results presentation.

Old Mutual's results from operations increased 13% to R9.8 billion during its 2025 financial year.

The group said this was supported by improved operating performance in Old Mutual Life and Savings, and Old Mutual Insure.

However, earnings were held back by elevated returns and performance in Malawi, which is experiencing elevated levels of inflation and shortages of foreign currency. Assuming a devaluation of the Malawian kwacha of between 50% and 30%, the group says, the increase in results from operations would have been between 7% and 9%.

Adjusted headline earnings jumped 24% to R8.3 billion, further benefiting from elevated shareholder investment returns in both South Africa and Malawi.

The group declared a final dividend of 56 cents per share, taking the total dividend to 93 cents per share - an increase of 8% year-on-year.

Of the R3 billion share buyback announced in September 2025, R0.7 billion had been completed to December 2025.

RELATED: Old Mutual announces R3bn share buyback and plans for huge investment in OM Bank

In conversation with Stephen Grootes, Group CEO Jurie Strydom says they're satisfied with the progress of the soft launch of Old Mutual Bank ahead of public marketing campaigns planned for the second quarter.

"We are still signing up 3,000 customers a day. I think by 31 December we'd gotten 284,000 customers and it keeps growing... before our public launch in Q2."

He says the drop in the loans and advances business reported in the annual results is also turning around, with a 22% rise seen this year.

"So we really are back into a growth phase... and we've merged that business into our OM Bank cluster, so actually the success of both of those are very closely coupled together."

Old Mutual says while the global environment is likely to remain uncertain, the South African outlook has become more constructive, supported by the 2026 national budget "which reaffirmed a commitment to fiscal discipline".

“We remain committed to restoring our value of new business margin by focusing on enhancing business mix, retention and collections, supported by cost savings,” it said.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview with the Old Mutal Group CEO