Health insurer NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF) released its half year report to the ASX this morning, showing a modest decline in profit.
NIB Holdings is the name behind one of Australia’s and New Zealand’s largest private health insurance businesses. It also provides cover for more than 130,000 international students and workers.
This morning, NIB released its recent half year results to the ASX. Here are the key stories:
- Revenue up 9% to $1.1 billion
- Profit down 1% to $70.9 million
- Underlying operating profit of $96.4 million
- Interim dividend of 9 cents per share, up from 8.5 cents per share
- Full year underlying operating profit guidance of at least $165 million
- Profit guidance of at least $148 million
“Our Australian Residents Health Insurance (arhi) business had another busy half year funding more than 135,000 hospital admissions and almost 3.0 million ancillary treatments,” NIB CEO Mark Fitzgibbon said.
“The growth in us paying for public hospital admissions is a key factor in cost and premium inflation. However, it’s at least providing greater choice and access for our customers and demonstrating just how reliant the public hospital system has become upon private health insurance,” Fitzgibbon added.
NIB’s New Zealand and Inbound Health Insurance business provided a boost to profit, according to its segment reporting.
Recently, the rising cost of private health insurance has been front and centre in media and political circles.
“No amount of political posturing is going to change the fact that Australians are each year spending somewhere between 5% to 6% more on their healthcare and that we’re simply running out of taxpayers relative to our retired to fund the Government’s massive share of the costs,” Mr Fitzgibbon noted.
Monday morning, shares of NIB were trading 2.5% higher at $6.59.
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