Shares in Sanlam fell 1.82 percent on Thursday, despite the insurance group saying it expects its annual headline earnings to surge.

Sanlam released a trading update for the 10 months to October, saying its headline earnings per share for the period had jumped 80 percent, while net operating profit grew 15 percent.

New business was up 11 percent.

Sanlam said it benefited more from the gains in the stock market than from the sale of its products, and expects strong year earnings if the performance of the equity markets continues.

It also said it had made substantial progress regarding the implementation of its capital efficiency, business diversification and growth initiatives.

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