Australian wealth manager Challenger says its life business achieved an 11% rise in sales to $5.1 billion in the December half, driven by record annuity transactions.

Annuity sales increased 32% to $3.8 billion, with domestic annuity turnover up 37% to $3.1 billion.

Challenger says the half also produced record offshore reinsurance annuity sales.

“We commenced FY26 with continued momentum … Our life business is Australia’s largest provider of annuities and a trusted leader in retirement income solutions.”

Challenger, which also has a funds management business, says overall normalised net profit after tax increased 2% to $229 million.

The group is still targeting a normalised basic earnings per share of 66c-72c this financial year after the first-half performance.

“Our first-half result demonstrates the strong fundamentals of our business, with delivery against our key targets, a continued rise in annuity sales and an increase in the interim dividend for our shareholders,” CEO and MD Nick Hamilton said.

He says Challenger stands ready as the federal government shapes to revamp the retirement income market through capital setting changes for annuity products.

“We have made strong progress in the first half of the year and are well placed to capture the opportunities ahead as Australia’s retirement income market enters a new phase of growth.”

Challenger says the reforms are a “crucial step towards developing Australia’s retirement income market by promoting innovation, expanding options for retirees to manage longevity risk and supporting greater take-up of lifetime income products”.