General insurers started the financial year on a strong note, making a profit after income tax of nearly $2.27 billion from continuing operations in the September quarter.

Profit a year earlier was about $2.07 billion, according to Australian Prudential Regulation Authority quarterly statistics on industry performance, released today.

The insurance service result – a measure of underwriting performance – was $2.79 billion, up from about $2.21 billion a year earlier. 

Short-tail classes contributed $1.55 billion; long-tail classes $396 million; mortgage business $167 million; other direct classes $197 million; and inward reinsurance $488 million. 

The net combined operating ratio improved to 82.3% from 85.1%. Total insurance revenue was $20.12 billion, compared with $19.2 billion in the corresponding quarter of last year.

However, investment returns fell to $1.11 billion from $1.84 billion.

Finity principal Pravesh Ponna said: “At the overall level, it looks like the result was again quite strong, so it continues the momentum that we saw over the last few quarters of 2025.”

The householders line made an underwriting profit of $636 million, up from $416 million a year earlier. 

It was the second straight profitable quarter for the short-tail property class, following a loss of $191 million in the January-March period. 

Householders gross written premium increased to $4.28 billion from $3.97 billion, and incurred claims rose to $1.97 billion from $1.79 billion.

The average premium per risk went up to $1338 from $1273.

Mr Ponna says the householders line “does seem to have achieved a relatively strong quarter and obviously that’s influenced by the fact there was limited catastrophe activity in the September quarter”.

Other short-tail property classes also recorded better underwriting results. Commercial motor lifted to $116 million from $87 million a year earlier; domestic motor to $440 million from $231 million; and fire and industrial special risk to $359 million from $277 million. 

Long-tail classes recorded GWP of $3.54 billion, little changed from a year earlier.