IAG POSTS FULL YEAR NET LOSS

Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has reported a net loss of A$427m for the full year ending 2021, compared with a A$435m profit for the same period of 2020. The preliminary result was impacted by natural catastrophe claims of A$742m and prior year reserve strengthening of A$81m driven by adverse development in commercial liability business in Australia, where a “sharp deterioration” in average claim size has emerged. IAG also made A$1.51bn provision in the full year 2021 for business interruption claims, which includes $200m recorded in the second half. Gross written premium grew 3.8% for the full year, with a growth rate of 3.9% in the second half. IAG managing director and chief executive Nick Hawkins said: “Our underlying financial results for the year are sound and within expectations. However, we have had challenges with issues that have been identified and provisioned for in our preliminary results.” IAG is targeting low single-digit premium growth and an insurance margin of 13.5%-15.5% for the full year 2022.