Health insurer NIB has boosted its profit, but not as much as analysts were expecting, and declined to reinstate its guidance given the lingering fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
NIB Holdings announced on Monday its net profit after tax for the six months to December 31 was up 12.8 per cent to $91.6 million. Analysts had been expecting $110m in profit for the half.
Group revenue was up 9.3 per cent to $1.5 billion. NIB made $1.4b in revenue on health insurance policies for Australian residents, international workers and students and in New Zealand, up 5.8 per cent from a year ago. Net claims expenses came in at $1.1b.
"We're very pleased with the result on a number of fronts," said chief executive and managing director Mark Fitzgibbon.
"There's a symmetry returning to the business and profitability, after a period of COVID-led disruption. The half-year has set us up for a good full-year result and longer-term outlook."
NIB also announced it would buy two more NDIS plan managers, Peak Plan Management and Connect Plan Management, following the purchase of its first plan manager in November.
Following these acquisitions, NIB will have around 22,000 NDIS participants and is on track to have at least 50,000 by 2024/25. It raised $158.1m to enter the sector in October, seeing it as a growth area.
Over half of the more than 530,000 participants in the disability scheme use a plan manager, helping them navigate the complicated system.
"It is early days but there are few greater opportunities for us to have meaningful social impact than in keeping people healthy, and now, in supporting people with disabilities achieve their life goals," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
But NIB declined to reinstate financial guidance given lingering consequences from the pandemic.
"The business outlook is encouraging but there's still some noise around COVID-19, deferred medical treatment and claims exposure," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
"Our current provisioning is prudent, but it's going to take a bit more time to settle."
NIB announced a fully franked dividend of 13c per share, up from 11 cents a year ago.
At 1.31pm AEDT, NIB shares were down 10.2 per cent to a two-month low of $7.125.
