2315 GMT - Health insurer NIB Holdings loses a bull in Jefferies after its latest update pointed to recent challenges in New Zealand. Jefferies downgrades NIB to hold, from buy, because the expected impact of claims inflation in FY 2025 is worse than its prior estimates. NIB yesterday said it now expects an operating loss of some A$10 million in 1H in its New Zealand business, although it remains confident of making a profit by the year end. "Resident claims inflation has been expected following pandemic lows," analyst Vanessa Thomson says "Yet the worsening New Zealand experience and the guided decline in underlying operating profit for FY 2025 are more negative than we expected." (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 12, 2024 18:15 ET (23:15 GMT)
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