Suncorp Group has reported a 43.7% fall in full-year net profit to $1.027 billion for the 12 months to June 30, 2026, even as it rewarded shareholders with a special dividend and a fresh share buy-back. The result - down from $1.8 billion in FY25 - landed alongside a leadership reshuffle that will see consumer and commercial insurance chiefs swap portfolios from next Monday, August 17, subject to regulatory approvals.
Suncorp, headquartered in Brisbane, operates as a Trans-Tasman insurer, so the results and the executive changes both flow through to its Australian business and its New Zealand arm, trading as Vero and AA Insurance.
The profit decline largely reflects one-off gains booked in the prior year from the sale of Suncorp Bank to ANZ and the divestment of its New Zealand life insurance business, which inflated the FY25 comparison. Underlying earnings told a different story, rising 4.5% to $1.636 billion, with the underlying insurance trading ratio holding at 11.8% - toward the top of Suncorp's 10 to 12% target range.
Current consumer insurance chief executive Lisa Harrison will move from next week to lead the commercial and personal injury portfolios, while retaining oversight of Suncorp's digital insurer rollout. Michael Miller shifts the other way, from commercial and personal injury chief executive to lead consumer insurance. For brokers working across Suncorp's commercial book the swap means a new face overseeing pricing, underwriting and distribution decisions from next week, even as the underlying portfolio strategy is expected to continue.
Chief risk officer Bridget Messer moves into a newly created role, chief executive customer, brand and digital, consolidating brand, marketing and digital distribution under one function. Michelle Bain, currently executive general manager of compulsory third party insurance, joins the executive leadership team as chief risk officer.
The reshuffle comes as Suncorp continues to grapple with elevated catastrophe costs. The insurer responded to 32 separate weather events during FY26, including 18 events with costs exceeding $10 million each, and paid out more than $10 billion across over 120,000 natural hazard claims. Natural hazard costs totalled $2.024 billion, exceeding the group's $1.77 billion allowance by $254 million.
Despite the hit, Suncorp declared a fully franked final dividend of 52 cents per share plus a 10-cent special dividend, and flagged a further $250 million on-market share buy-back for FY27. Gross written premium for the year grew 2.7 per cent to $15.41 billion. CEO Steve Johnston (pictured) said the result showed a well-run insurance company could deliver for both customers and shareholders, pointing to the multi-year aggregate reinsurance cover that took effect on June 30 as an important step in reducing natural hazard risk and earnings volatility going forward.
Suncorp's New Zealand business posted its own mixed FY26 result. The segment delivered an underlying insurance trading result of NZ$471 million, with an underlying insurance trading ratio of 19.5%, while gross written premium fell 4.8% to NZ$2.756 billion amid a soft commercial market cycle and the exit of a consumer book in the intermediated channel. Suncorp New Zealand chief executive Jimmy Higgins said natural hazard claims were elevated above Vero's annual allowance following a series of major storms that had a significant impact on New Zealand communities.
Higgins has previously stressed the need for a national strategy on natural hazard risk to keep global reinsurers engaged with the New Zealand market, a theme likely to resurface as brokers on both sides of the Tasman digest this result.
The changes follow a period of management transition at Suncorp, after Johnston took a period of medical leave earlier this year, with Jeremy Robson stepping in as acting CEO. They also build on a run of natural hazard pressure flagged in the insurer's half-year results released in February, when costs already exceeded budget on both sides of the Tasman.
