nib’s financial results show net profits up 25%

“This translated into strong policyholder growth across our Australian and New Zealand health insurance businesses,” he added.

Fitzgibbon said the “impressive” first half operating performance was driven by strong premium revenue growth of 8.2% from an uplift in policyholders and also COVID-19 related disruption to elective surgery and allied healthcare, such as dentistry.

“We also continue to expect and account for an inevitable “catch-up” in deferred treatment now estimated at A$59.2 million,” he said.

The Group’s underlying revenue grew 8.3% to A$1.4 billion while underlying operating profit (UOP) increased 28.5% to A$109.6 million. Net profit after tax (NPAT) of A$81.2 million was up 24.7%.

Shareholders received an interim dividend of 11.0 cents Australian per share, fully franked.

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In New Zealand, Fitzgibbon said the business “performed well”. Premium revenue grew 13.8%, however claims expenses increased.

In Australia, Fitzgibbon said nib’s core Australian Residents Health Insurance (arhi) business “performed strongly.”

“Compared to the first half of last financial year, membership grew 2.8% to over 653,000 policyholders and we saw improvement in retention and our member satisfaction,” he said.

The CEO said he expected real opportunities in the market during the next six months due to nib’s refreshing of its brand, new product concepts and additional partnerships.

Fitzgibbon said the performance of nib’s international inbound health insurance (iihi) segment continued to be mixed.

“While it’s been another disappointing result overall, our workers business has seen stellar sales growth especially through the Pacific and Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme,” he said.

Fitzgibbon expected conditions to “dramatically improve” once border restrictions are relaxed.