The profitability of the Australian insurance actually declined in the March quarter of this year, according to the latest data released by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
The data showed that the industry’s annualized return on equity through the March quarter was 11.7 per cent compared with 13.6 per cent for the same period last year.
However the APRA data showed that net premium revenue for the year ended 31 March, 2006, was up 0.8 per cent over the same period in 2005 to $21.1 billion, albeit that industry net premium for the March quarter was 2.8 per cent.
It said that net incurred claims for the year ended 31 March, 2006 were up 5.8 per cent to $13.1 billion, while the net loss ration for the industry was 62 per cent.
