SYDNEY – Australia's Suncorp Group (SUN.AU) said insurance claims in the 10 months to the end of April were more than 50% higher than the company had been expecting.
A spate of natural disasters saw natural hazard claims soar to 714 million Australian dollars (US$714 million), compared with the A$461 million Suncorp had expected in the period, the insurance and banking group said in a trading update on Tuesday. The biggest hit was from claims, amounting to A$250 million, linked to the Melbourne hailstorms during Christmas.
Floods, fires and hailstorms saw Australia's insurers suffer A$5 billion in losses last year in what general reinsurer Munich Re estimated to be the most expensive year on record for the industry worldwide.
Despite the larger-than-expected claims expenses, Suncorp said the underlying performance of its general insurance business was showing better-than-expected improvements, driven mostly by its motor- and home-insurance portfolios.
The group's banking division, Suncorp Bank, separately reported a 3% rise in lending in the three months to March 31 to A$42 billion, according to the update. Impairment losses for the quarter were in line with expectations, at A$13 million, while non-performing loans rose to A$554 million.
Suncorp Bank's CEO, David Foster, said credit growth across the market continued to trend below the average of recent years, reflecting subdued consumer confidence.
Copyright © 2012 Dow Jones Newswires
