Insurance Australia Group <IAG.AX> on Friday said annual profit plummeted 60% and the company declined to provide any outlook for fiscal 2021, citing pressure from rising claims costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its broader economic ramifications.
The pandemic has exacerbated challenges faced by Australian insurers, who were already reeling from a turbulent summer after raging wildfires, drought and hailstorms which catapulted claims and crimped margins.
Australia's second-largest insurer by market value reported insurance margin, a key profitability metric, of 10.1% for the year after slashing its outlook last month.
The company said new movement restrictions imposed on the country's second-most populous state of Victoria amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections created uncertainty over its effects on local business operations.
Net profit came in at A$435 million ($314.59 million) for the full year ended June 30 compared with A$1.08 billion a year ago, but beat market estimates of A$429 million, according to analysts polled by Refinitiv.
The Sydney-based company said growth in gross written premiums in the second half of the year took a hit of about A$80 million due to the impact of the COVID-19, and rose 1.1% for the full year to A$12.14 billion.
($1 = 1.3827 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Arpit Nayak and Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
