Wealth manager Challenger’s life business delivered a 19% rise in sales to $1.7 billion for the third quarter.

The company, which has revised its 2025-26 earnings outlook, says the January-March revenue growth was driven by strong annuity sales.

“Sales across domestic lifetime annuities and Japanese annuities remained strong, supported by demand for guaranteed income solutions and the ageing populations both in Australia and Japan,” CEO and MD Nick Hamilton said.

“We have maintained strong momentum through the third quarter across our retirement business …  broadening our customer reach and continuing to execute our strategy to capture the next phase of growth in retirement income.”

Domestic annuity sales grew 7% to $806 million, including strong growth in lifetime annuity sales, which were up 18% to $289 million.

Challenger is now aiming for normalised basic earnings per share of 66c-70c this year, compared with a previous 66c-72c target.