Demerged NZ Tower reasserts itself
The trans-Tasman break-up of the Tower Group does not appear to have hurt the New Zealand end of the operation, with Tower Limited reporting a 28 per cent increase in profit after tax to $20.2 million.
The company said that operating earnings from the combined health and life business had lifted solidly to $15.1 million from $11.8 million last year, with the performance of the general insurance business being described as encouraging, with net profit after tax lifting to $7.7 million.
The company said its investment business had experienced a rise in income but that net profit after tax was down to $2.3 million compared to $3.6 million for the same period last year.
It said this decline was due to increased project expenses and compliance costs associated with KiwiSaver and the Portfolio Investment regime together with lower investment returns in the current market.
Commenting on the result, Tower Group managing director Rob Flannagan described it as satisfying and said the re-establishment of the company’s New Zealand and Pacific businesses had been a clear goal.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
Recommended for you
At the halfway point of the year, consolidation pressures continue to drive financial services M&A with three areas identified as targets for asset and wealth managers, according to PwC’s mid-year outlook.
With advisers expressing a reluctance to invest in cryptocurrency, advised clients are tending to have a smaller allocation to the asset than their unadvised peers.
After surviving significant evolutions of the Australian financial advice industry, The Advisers Association is now celebrating a century of advocating for advisers.
ASIC is calling on licensees to review their client onboarding practices to avoid vulnerabilities associated with share sale fraud, noting particular concerns in the use of white labelling services.
