By Michael Jones

Feb 12 - (The Insurer) - Suncorp has reported a general insurance profit after tax of A$875mn ($550.72mn) for the first half of its 2025 financial year, a 71.6 percent increase on the prior-year period.

• H1 2025 natural hazard costs of A$503mn; A$277mn below half-year allowance

• General insurance GWP up 8.9% to A$7.6bn

• Commercial and PI business reports A$208mn half-year profit after tax

• Mid- to high single-digit GWP growth expected for FY2025

The Australian carrier’s consumer insurance division reported profit after tax of A$423mn, a 108.4 percent increase on the prior-year period.

Suncorp’s commercial and personal injury business and Suncorp New Zealand both delivered half-year profits of A$208mn. The former was a 7.2 percent increase on the prior-year period, while the New Zealand result was up 181.1 percent on its H1 2024 performance.

The carrier’s total natural hazard costs of A$503mn were A$277mn below its half-year allowance.

Suncorp benefited from what it described as a benign natural hazard period, with six weather events above A$10mn in Australia and no significant weather events in New Zealand.

General insurance gross written premiums (GWP) grew by 8.9 percent year on year to A$7.6bn.

Consumer insurance remained the largest segment with GWP of A$4.04bn, up 10.2 percent on H1 2024’s A$3.66bn.

This included 10.3 percent growth in its motor portfolio and 10.2 percent growth in its home portfolio, the latter driven by pricing adjustments to reflect the higher natural hazard allowance and claims inflation.

Commercial and personal injury GWP grew 9.7 percent year on year to A$2.09bn in the first half of the financial year.

Net incurred claims in the segment increased by 10 percent on the prior-year period to A$1.39bn. This was driven by profit growth and a change in product mix, which was partly offset by favourable natural hazards experience and the non-recurrence of prior year reserve strengthening.

Suncorp New Zealand’s NZ$1.49bn ($840mn) H1 2025 GWP was a 6 percent increase on the prior-year period, driven largely by growth in the consumer portfolio.

Lower relative natural hazard costs and an improved working claims experience meant net incurred claims decreased by 4.2 percent to NZ$594mn.