Suncorp targets insurance growth

Suncorp is aiming to improve the underlying margin of its insurance business by 3 per cent over the next two years.

Suncorp chief executive Patrick Snowball said the group’s building blocks program, which aimed to provide a single view of insurance pricing and claims, would deliver $235 million in annual benefits by June 2013.

By cutting discretionary spending, redirecting capital expenditure and simplifying systems, the group would able to absorb $120 million in project costs, Snowball said.

“Our move to a functional model and a single view of pricing and claims will ensure the general insurance business leverages scale advantages across all of its brands and unlocks the potential in functional capability that has not been realised to date,” he said.

The group’s personal insurance business will improve margins through the implementation of a single pricing engine and claims model, with a plan to move from a portfolio of separate businesses to a single functional model.

The group is aiming to increase the market share of its commercial insurance business, particularly in the SME segment, through many of the same initiatives that are being implemented in the personal insurance business.

The group is also planning to double the sustainable net profit after tax in the Vero New Zealand business, according to Vero New Zealand chief executive Roger Bell.

“Vero New Zealand can achieve this target organically by extending our specialist focused business model and integrated portfolio management system, as well as significantly growing our business through the relationship with ANZ National,” Bell said.