Life insurers in better shape
Australia's major life insurers appear to have brought the negative claims experience which impacted their bottom lines over much of the past two years under control, according to the latest data released by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
APRA's December quarter life insurance performance statistics paint a picture of an industry which, while still struggling in some areas, has managed to improve its overall profitability.
The APRA data showed that net profit after tax was $807 million in the December quarter 2015, compared with $767 million in the September quarter 2015 with non-investment linked businesses contributing $607 million, and investment-linked businesses contributing $166 million to the total net profit after tax
It said that in the year ended December 2015, net profit after tax was $3.2 billion, up 30.9 per cent from the previous 12 months and that non-investment linked businesses contributed $2.3 billion and investment-linked businesses contributed $710 million to the total net profit after tax in the year ended December 2015.
The data showed annualised return on net assets was 13.7 per cent in the December quarter 2015, compared with 13.1 per cent in the September quarter 2015. In the year ended December 2015, return on net assets was 13.5 per cent, compared with 10.9 per cent in the previous 12 months.
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