Big general insurer, Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has seen its half-year profit return strongly to the black after troubled times in early 2009.
The vastly improved result was achieved off the back of a strong insurance profit and prompted the insurance group to confirm its upgrade in expectations for the full year.
The company announced a net profit after tax of $329 million for the six months to the end of December (compared with just $34 million for the previous six-month period) with the insurance profit increasing to $488 million (up from $227 million).
Commenting on the result, IAG managing director Mike Wilkins said that the turnaround in the Group’s underlying performance was progressing to plan.
“Our significantly improved first-half insurance profit demonstrates that the actions we’ve taken over the past 18 months have delivered tangible results, with over half of the expansion in insurance margin derived from operational improvements,” he said. Wilkins said he expected further, steady improvement in operating performance over the balance of the financial year.
