Sovereign profit soars to record $102m

Financial service provider Sovereign has reported a 27 per cent increase in after tax profit to a record $102.6 million for the year to June 30.

A member of the ASB Group of companies, itself owned by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Sovereign provides life and health insurance, home loans, investment and superannuation products.

Sovereign acting managing director John Raby said that during the year the company increased its new risk annual premiums by 9 per cent to $51.7 million, lifting its 12-month rolling average market share by just under 1 per cent to 32.7 per cent.

In force annual risk premiums were up 13 per cent to $316 million. That growth increased Sovereign's share of the annual risk premium in force business to 31.4 per cent, Mr Raby said.

Sovereign's health insurance business increased in force annual premiums by 14 per cent to $50.7 million.

Sovereign also strengthened its position as the country's leading non-bank home loan lender, with the level of loans it settled during the year increasing by 24 per cent to $2.43 billion.

At June 30 the size of Sovereign's home loan portfolio stood at $5.74 billion, an increase of 26 per cent, while funds under management at year-end remained relatively stable at $3.2 billion.

As it was the first full year that Sovereign had reported under new International Financial Reporting Standards, some financial data could not strictly be compared to previous year's figures.

- NZPA