Challenger Full-year Profit Surges; Lifts Dividend; Increases Share Buyback; Stock Up
(RTTNews) – Challenger Limited (CFIGF.PK), an Australian provider of retirement income and investment management solutions, reported a significant improvement in statutory profitability for fiscal 2026, supported by a turnaround in the net insurance result, and continued growth in its Life business.
The company also increased its share buyback program to A$450 million from A$150 million.
Statutory net profit after tax increased 162.9% to A$505.6 million from A$192.3 million a year ago. EPS rose 150.4% to 69.1 cents from 27.6 cents
Profit from continuing operations surged to A$469.1 million, or 64.1 cents per share, from A$167.9 million, or 23.6 cents per share last year.
Normalised net profit after tax increased 3% to A$468 million or 68.1 cents per share. Core basic EPS was 44.2 cents.
Profit before net insurance and tax rose 26.0% to A$633.0 million from A$502.2 million a year earlier.
The net insurance result swung to a profit of A$41.2 million from a loss of A$249.5 million in FY25, primarily reflecting a sharp reduction in net insurance finance expenses, which fell to A$25.1 million from A$385.3 million.
Non-insurance finance costs declined 31.0% to A$567.5 million from A$822.7 million in FY25, further supporting statutory earnings.
Challenger’s Life business delivered solid growth, with total Life sales increasing 12% to A$9.6 billion. Average investment assets expanded 6% to A$26.2 billion.
Insurance revenue grew 10.0% to A$825.3 million from A$750.5 million, although the insurance service result declined 51.2% to A$66.3 million from A$135.8 million.
Revenue excluding insurance contracts decreased 1.7% to A$2.111 billion from A$2.147 billion in the previous year.
The company declared a full-year dividend of 31.5 cents per share, up 7%, and a special dividend of 1.5 cents per share, both payable on September 17 to shareholders of record on August 26.
For fiscal 2027, Challenger expects core basic EPS to be in the range of 45 to 49 cents.
On the ASX, Challenger shares were up more than 6% at A$10.31.
