Life insurers’ profits down
Poor performance of group products is continuing to impact life insurers' profits, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's Quarterly Report reveals.
The report found that annual post-tax profits had fallen 11.8 per cent in the year to 30 June 2014 ($2.3 billion), compared with the same period in 2013 ($2.6 billion).
APRA figures showed that group risk products created a net after tax loss of $16 million, with revenue of $1.3 billion gained from the products nullified by expenses of the same amount.
While profits fell across the sector by $300 million over the last year, life insurers' revenue increased to $45.8 billion in 2014, from $45 billion 2013, total expense increased by 1.2 billion over the 12 months to 30 June 2014.
Operating costs also contributed to the fall in profits, going up from $7.4 billion for the year to 30 June 2013 to $8.1 billion this year.
AUTHOR
Nicholas O'Donoghue
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