By CONRAD ONYANGO British American Investment of Kenya (Britam ) is setting its sight on regional oil and gas discoveries to rev up slow business in its two subsidiaries, Uganda and South Sudan. Since operations begun in the two subsidiaries none has posted profits so far, a reason the company attributes to teething problems associated by firms when breaking ground to new markets. “There has been a slow activity in the two countries owing to a slow insurance business that none of the two has made money. However, we are bullish the company will make a turnaround on the markets when we announce our results for 2013,” said the company’s managing director, Benson Wairegi. Of the Sh 2.8 billion profits posted by the firm December last year, Sh 1.5 billion was generated in Kenya alone with an excess of similar amount pushed by Equity bank, a holding company to the subsidiaries. Britam started operations in Uganda two and a half years ago, while its business in South Sudan has only lasted about five months. With ongoing efforts and discussions across the east African bloc on how best minerals can be exploited to grow economies, the firm is hopeful will spur investment through a rally in activities at the securities exchange to boost business in the two markets. “We are anticipating new businesses to crop up on positive projections of the economy. Our expansion and penetration deeper into the market will also boost our investment income,” he said. The group also plans to break ground into Rwanda by the end of second quarter after it clears with regulatory authorities in the country. Wairegi spoke on the sidelines of the firm’s 17th Annual General meeting(AGM) where Shareholders at the firm approved a proposed dividend payout of 25 cents per ordinary share from a previous 15 cents per share. It was the highest dividend ever to be paid by an insurance company over the last one year, after the firm recorded a 67 percent growth in dividends from Sh 284 million in 2011 to Sh 473 million last year. Shareholder funds in the insurance sector surged by Sh20 Billion a 31 percent rise over the year after recording Sh 70.1 billion by September last year. “Shareholders funds comprised of Sh 22.9 billion in paid up share capital while Sh 21.9 billion was in retained earnings and Sh25.6 billion was on reserves,” according to the 2013 economic survey.