The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) today released its Quarterly General Insurance Performance Statistics and Quarterly General Insurance Institution-level Statistics for the September quarter of 2022.
The Quarterly General Insurance Performance Statistics publication provides aggregate industry summaries of financial performance, financial condition, capital adequacy and key ratios. The publication also includes detailed statistics at the business category level, a breakdown of operating revenues and expenses, and more detailed information on solvency.
For the year ended September 30, 2022, the sector reported net income after tax of $960 million and a return on net assets of 3.1%. This was down slightly from the prior year, as industry-best underwriting results were offset by significant investment losses. The improvement in industry underwriting results was due to an increase in gross earned premiums in all business categories. Gross claims expenses also increased and can be attributed to higher claims costs resulting from catastrophic events throughout the year, including the NSW and SEQ floods in the March quarter. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2022, the industry recorded total investment losses of $3.0 billion. This decrease is explained by unrealized losses on interest-bearing investments due to the increase in bond yields over the past 12 months.
The sector’s PCA coverage ratio increased during the year ended September 30, 2022 to 1.74x, compared to 1.72x for the same period last year.
Key performance statistics for the property and casualty insurance industry during the year ended September 30:
September 2021 |
September 2022 |
Change (annual) |
|
---|---|---|---|
Gross Earned Premium |
$55.6 billion |
$61.9 billion |
11.3% |
Gross claims expense |
$42.8 billion |
$46.3 billion |
8.1% |
Technical result |
$1.9 billion |
$6.1 billion |
215.3% |
investment income |
$1.2 billion |
-$3.0 billion |
– |
Net profit after tax |
$1.0 billion |
$1.0 billion |
-0.8% |
Main ratios for the general insurance sector:
September 2021 |
September 2022 |
Change (annual) |
|
---|---|---|---|
Net loss ratio |
71% |
62% |
-9 percentage points |
Return on net assets |
3.2% |
3.1% |
-0.1 percentage points |
Prescribed capital coverage ratio |
1.72x |
1.74x |
0.02x |
The Quarterly General Insurance Institution-level Statistics publication contains individual information on financial performance, financial condition, capital adequacy and key ratios. Insurers’ quarterly performance statistics can be impacted by factors beyond their control, such as natural disasters, as well as factors driven by their internal processes, such as the timing of actuarial valuations. Users should consider these factors when interpreting statistics.
Copies of the September 30, 2022 quarterly publications are available on the APRA website at: General Insurance Quarterly Statistics.