Financial Services group Suncorp-Metway Ltd
(ASX:SUN) has announced a 40 per cent fall in net profit after what the company says has been the most volatile period in Australian financial services history.
Net profit for the year to June 30 came to $348 million inline with guidance issued earlier in the month of profit between $340 million to $360 million.
The company’s banking division reported earnings of $117 million down 82 per cent on last year after incurring an impairment charge of $710 million.
Suncorp’s insurance arm lost $255 million to insurance payouts related to the Victorian bushfires and Queensland floods.
The insurance arm’s trading result was $462 million down from $607 million in fiscal 2008.
Chairman John Story says that while the company sees external conditions stabilizing and there has been some evidence of recovery it is still too early to declare the end of the uncertainty.
New CEO Patrick Snowball will start his appointment on the first of September.
Suncorp declaredstabilising a final dividend of 20 cents a share. Suncorp-Metway’s 2008 net profit nearly halved from its result the year before.
