Nib Travel says the market remains robust after its gross written premium (GWP) fell 18% to $85.4 million in the six months to December 31.

When excluding a contract with Qantas that was not renewed and did not contribute to the July-December figures, first-half GWP rose 3.7% compared with a year earlier. 

The insurer launched a travel partnership with Woolworths two months ago and says gross profit after commissions increased in the first half, while sales excluding Qantas were flat at $223.24 million.  

“We lost a major contract, although it didn’t really hit our profitability in any material way,” CEO Mark Fitzgibbon said. “We’ve got another major partner in place and, depending on this success, we expect travel sales to grow again. 

“At this point, we’re fairly confident about the travel marketplace and our ability to ride that wave. Sales will recover. We’ve done a lot of work ... right across the business in thinking about how we can make for a better digital experience for our travellers.” 

Group CFO Nick Freeman says travel sales have stabilised after a post-covid spike last year. 

Nib processed 10,863 travel claims in the half-year, up 25%, valued at $32 million. 

“We’ve had the claims come back,” Mr Freeman said. “We had a very strong half last year as travel really bounced back and now we’ve got to go through that rump of the claims.”