HBOS St Andrew’s scores profit
St Andrew’s Australia has reported a pre-tax profit of $8.4 million for the half year ending June, 2005, up 147 per cent on the corresponding period last year.
The profit figure for the funds management and risk arm of HBOS was based on a 13 per cent increase of funds and management and advice, which has now topped $432 million.
The stronger figures include a full half-year period for RACV Financial Services, which was acquired by St Andrew’s last year. RACV is now known as St Andrew’s Financial Services.
St Andrew’s managing director John Van Der Wielen said risk insurance sales were up, particularly for its Lite Life product, which is sold through BankWest and other financial services companies.
“In the first part of 2006, we grew St Andrew’s premium sales by 54 per cent and our policy numbers are projected to continue this growth in the next few years,” he said.
“Throughout the last 12 months our insurance business grained significant momentum, demonstrating the success of our strategy to provide a more competitive market and make insurance and investment products more accessible to Australian consumers.”
Van Der Wielen said the company would continue to expand its adviser numbers and expand its management team.
The most recent move has been the recruitment of the former head of sales at Aviva, Paul Northey, as director of St Andrew’s Wealth Management.
Van Der Wielen said cross-selling within the HBOS group would continue to boost revenue and St Andrew’s was on track to meet its growth targets for the second half of the 2006 financial year, which ends in December.
Recommended for you
In the latest episode of Relative Return Insider, host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic and AMP’s Shane Oliver break down US and Australian rate cuts, soaring gold, and bitcoin’s volatility.
In the latest episode of the Relative Return Insider, host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic and AMP’s chief economist Shane Oliver unpack the surprising twists in the Australian economy, diving into the latest GDP numbers, what’s really driving consumer spending, and what it all means for the Reserve Bank’s next moves.
In this episode of Relative Return, host Laura Dew chats with Roy Keenan, co-head of fixed income at Yarra Capital Management, to discuss the evolving fixed income asset class, his sector preferences, and the RBA’s rate-cutting policy.
In this week’s episode of Relative Return Insider, AMP chief economist Shane Oliver joins the show to dissect the ongoing government economic reform roundtable and reflect on the wish lists of industry stakeholders – and whether there is hope for meaningful reform.
