Tower raises profit forecast despite weather and quake claims
Photo:
RNZ / Dan Cook
Tower Insurance has raised its full year profit forecast despite facing claims for the Easter storms and ongoing claims related to the Christchurch earthquake 15 years ago.
It's forecasting after-tax earnings of $70m to $80m from $60m-$70m for the year ending September, driven by better-than-expected weather and lower inflation.
The company said it had so far had only one big weather event in the current year - the Dunedin floods last October - but was preparing for more.
"Tower is supporting customers affected by the storms that impacted New Zealand over Easter weekend, and has so far received almost 250 claims. This means this storm may exceed the $2m threshold for a large event for Tower," the company said in a statement to the NZX.
Tower reduced the expected growth in premiums income to single digits because of increased competition in the housing and motor vehicle policy sectors, while it said its management costs were higher than forecast.
It said it was also seeing the impact of reopened Christchurch earthquake claims 15 years after the event, because of inadequate repairs, undiscovered damage, and inflation since 2010-11.
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