The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released the latest general insurance statistics for the June 2021 quarter consisting of two publications: ‘Quarterly General Insurance Performance Statistics’ and ‘Quarterly General Insurance Institution Level Statistics’.
The Quarterly General Insurance Performance Statistics publication provides industry aggregate summaries of financial performance, financial position, capital adequacy, and key ratios. It also includes detailed statistics at a class-of-business level, a breakdown of operating income and expenses, and more granular solvency information.
For the quarter ended June 30, 2021, the general insurance sector reported a net profit after tax of $750 million, driven by solid underwriting results. The sector also saw a recovery in investment income, compared to a loss in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, during the same quarter, the industry PCA coverage ratio slightly increased to 1.71x, up from the March ratio of 1.69x.
For the year ended June 30, 2021, the industry reported a net profit after tax of $1.0 billion and a return on net assets of 3.4%.
According to APRA’s data, stronger underwriting results were constrained by provisioning for COVID-19-related business interruption (BI) claims and large natural catastrophe claims costs. Investment market volatility also resulted in investment income, although increasing, continuing to be lower than pre-COVID-19 levels.
During the same period, the industry PCA coverage ratio increased slightly to 1.71x, up from the ratio of 1.68x reported for the same period last year.
The Quarterly General Insurance Institution-level Statistics publication includes individual insurer information about financial performance, financial position, capital adequacy, and key ratios. The quarterly performance statistics of insurers may be impacted by factors outside of their control (such as natural catastrophe events) and those driven by their internal processes (such as the timing of actuarial valuations).
For the quarter ended June 30, 2021, Insurance Australia Limited dominated the market, reporting $2,597 million in gross written premium (GWP). Insurance Australia Limited was followed by AAI Limited with $2,426 million GWP, QBE Insurance Australia Limited with $1,784 million GWP, Allianz Australia Insurance Limited with $1,485 million GWP, and Insurance Manufacturers of Australia Pty Limited with $1,013 million GWP.
