Australia’s Suncorp Group’s annual cash earnings rise on higher margins, returns

(Reuters) -Australia’s Suncorp Group posted an 86.3% rise in its full-year cash earnings on Wednesday, on the back of improved underlying margins and a significant turnaround in investment returns.

Also aiding the cash earnings, the company logged strong top-line growth across the group’s Insurance Australia and banking arm for the year ended June 30.

The country’s second-biggest insurer by market value posted annual cash earnings of A$1.25 billion ($817.38 million), compared with A$673 million a year earlier.

Net gain from yields and investment markets was A$724 million for the year, compared with a loss of A$190 million in 2022, the company said in a statement.

Last week, the company’s A$4.9 billion banking arm sale to ANZ Group Holdings was blocked by the country’s competition regulator.

Suncorp now expects the separation and other costs related to the deal to increase from A$500 million to between A$575 million and A$600 million.

The company also declared a final dividend of 27 Australian cents per share, compared with 17 cents per share a year earlier.

($1 = 1.5295 Australian dollars)