Suncorp Annual Profit Rises 12% on Positive Investment Returns

By Alice Uribe

SYDNEY--Suncorp Group said its annual profit rose by 12%, driven by positive investment returns and natural hazard costs coming in below allowances.

The Australian general insurer said Monday that net profit rose to 1.20 billion Australian dollars (US$800 million) in the 12 months through June.

This came in under a consensus estimate of A$1.29 billion in a FactSet-compiled poll of analysts.

Suncorp's full-year revenue was A$15.03 billion, up 5.0% on year. Cash earnings, a measure tracked by analysts that excludes certain costs and one-time items, rose by 17% to A$1.37 billion.

The total cost of natural hazard events for fiscal 2024 was A$1.24 billion, which was A$125 million below the group's allowance. Suncorp managed 12 separate weather events in Australia.

Higher net investment income of A$661 million, up from A$451 million the previous year, was driven by a strong underlying yield on the interest-earning portfolio and stronger equity markets, said Suncorp.

Directors of the company declared a final dividend of 44 Australian cents a share, up from 27 cents a share a year earlier.

Suncorp said it now expects gross written premium in the mid to high single digits, with an underlying insurance trading ratio target toward the top of a 10-12% range.

Write to Alice Uribe at alice.uribe@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 18, 2024 18:22 ET (22:22 GMT)

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