QBE Insurance has reported a 27% increase in net profit after tax to A$1.1m for the 2005 financial year.
The company said insurance profit before tax increased by 39% to A$1,288m, or 17.4% of net earned premium compared with 13.7% last year, despite net claims from large catastrophes of A$515m compared with A$320m
last year.
QBE said its European operations accounted for 51% of the the group's gross earned premium of A$9,408m.
Gross written premium for European operations was A$4,794m. The combined operating ratio was 92.1%.
QBE's chief executive Frank O'Halloran, said "The substantial increase in net profit after tax and the improvement in insurance margins were significant achievements considering the insurance industry
experienced its worst year on record for catastrophe losses."
He added: "Overall premium rates for the group are expected to increase by around 4% in 2006, with higher premium rates for certain catastrophe exposed classes more than offsetting slight reductions for other business, particularly liability insurance.
"Subject to unforeseen circumstances, we expect an
insurance profit margin of between 16%-17% for 2006 and net earned premium to grow by around 12.5%."
