Tower NZ weathers economic slowdown
Tower Limited, the New Zealand arm of the group, has reported growth in its life insurance and overall profit despite some pain in its investment management division.
Group managing director Rob Flannagan said the New Zealand business is “not distracted by overseas relationships”, and added the group’s “underlying strengths will serve it well in a slowing economy”.
While the group’s pre-tax earnings were down on last year, profit after tax was up.
In its second annual report after splitting from Tower Australia in November 2006, Tower Limited reported net profit after tax (NPAT) of NZ$40.5 million for the year to September 30, 2008. This was up NZ$5.2 million on last year’s result of NZ$34.6 million.
Total revenue from continuing operations was down 5.5 per cent to NZ$454.8 million.
The group reported a NZ$5.8 million increase in NPAT in its health and life business to NZ$28.5 million, while reporting NPAT in its Tower Investments business of NZ$3.7 million, down from NZ$7.6 million last year. The group said this was the result of reduced funds under management and ongoing expenses related to Kiwisaver and portfolio investment entity systems.
The annualised return on shareholder funds was up slightly to 14.7 per cent, with the group to pay an after tax dividend of 8 cents per share fully imputed.
The group has a conservative gearing ratio of 14.6 per cent.
Recommended for you
Financial Services Minister, Stephen Jones, has assured the cost and time to enter the financial advice profession will soon be halved, as shadow treasurer Angus Taylor pledges to reach 30,000 advisers.
The positive results of the latest financial adviser exam have helped the advice profession reach 15,600 yet again, according to Wealth Data analysis.
Financial advice firms have told Adviser Ratings they are planning to increase their compliance spend by almost a third, including on enhancements to their cyber security which ASIC has identified as an enforcement priority.
The digital advice platform is officially launching into the financial advice sector, offering up its services to practices as a means of engaging with the next generation of clients.
