Bulletin: Genworth Australia Can Withstand Rising Interest Rates

SYDNEY (S&P Global Ratings) Aug. 3, 2022--Genworth Australia's strong half-year underwriting result shows that it is well placed to withstand rising interest rates. The insurer's result for the six months to June 30, 2022, benefited from a range of tailwinds that may not be repeated. However, we expect the insurer to continue to benefit from low claims and for weakened economic growth prospects and higher interest rates to only modestly weigh on full year 2022 underwriting earnings. Incurred claims for Genworth Financial Mortgage Insurance Pty Ltd. (Genworth Australia; A/Stable/--) remained very low in the half year, driving an underwriting result of A$173 million. Despite the strong underwriting result, the insurer's half year net profit after tax of A$19 million was

...August 3, 2022 SYDNEY (S&P Global Ratings) Aug. 3, 2022--Genworth Australia's strong half-year underwriting result shows that it is well placed to withstand rising interest rates. The insurer's result for the six months to June 30, 2022, benefited from a range of tailwinds that may not be repeated. However, we expect the insurer to continue to benefit from low claims and for weakened economic growth prospects and higher interest rates to only modestly weigh on full year 2022 underwriting earnings. Incurred claims for Genworth Financial Mortgage Insurance Pty Ltd. (Genworth Australia; A/Stable/--) remained very low in the half year, driving an underwriting result of A$173 million. Despite the strong underwriting result, the insurer's half year net profit after tax of A$19 million was down 68% on the same period last year. This reflected the continued fallout of higher interest rates with significant unrealized losses booked on its investment portfolio. Nevertheless, underlying earnings remained...

Bulletin