Steadfast Group has posted underlying net profit after tax of A$319.5 million for the year ended June 30 2026, up 8.2%, in what is likely to be its final full-year result as a listed company - and the last before London Lloyd's broker HWS Specialty passes to new owners.
The results were released to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on August 25 2026, four days after the group signed a binding scheme implementation deed with Amwins Australasia Group and Starboard BidCo, involving Dragoneer Investment Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, at A$6.00 per share. That represents a 51.9% premium to the undisturbed closing price of A$3.95 on 9 June 2026. The board has unanimously recommended the scheme, absent a superior proposal, with completion targeted for December 2026 subject to shareholder, court and regulatory approvals.
"I am pleased to present our FY26 results, continuing Steadfast's track record of accretive growth since listing in August 2013," CEO Robert Kelly (pictured) said in the market release. "Despite a challenging operating environment, disciplined execution and strong cost management, we delivered solid performance and positioned the business for continued long-term growth."
Underlying revenue reached A$2,104.7 million, up 15.3%, with underlying earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) of A$669.8 million, up 13.8%. Underlying diluted earnings per share rose 7.7% to 28.8 cents and the board declared a fully franked final dividend of 12.75 cents per share, up 9.0%.
The fastest-growing part of the result was the smallest. Steadfast International - the division containing HWS Specialty, US agency network ISU Steadfast and US specialty managing general agent Novum Underwriting Partners - delivered underlying EBITA of A$29.8 million, an increase of A$23.9 million on the prior year. Divisional revenue grew 95.4% and EBITA 400.8%, though from a low base.
Steadfast attributed the organic component to growth in ISU Steadfast profit sharing and network membership fees, and to continued growth in HWS Specialty. New business wins in the marine division were cited specifically, alongside strategic hires made within HWS Specialty in London during the year to expand specialty capabilities.
HWS Specialty, founded in 1982 and a Lloyd's broker since 2003, is wholly owned. It employs 92 people across the UK, France and Greece and provides wholesale, retail and reinsurance solutions across international marine and cargo, property, fine art and specie, serving clients in 30 countries.
The division's growth stands against a slower core. Australasian broking underlying EBITA rose 13.2%, but 10.5% of that came from step-up and bolt-on acquisitions in existing equity brokers, leaving organic growth of 2.7%. The network wrote A$13.2 billion in gross written premium across 419 brokerages, up 6.2%, and underwriting agencies A$2.5 billion, up 2.3%.
Statutory net profit after tax was A$269.1 million against A$334.9 million the prior year, a fall of 20% on Steadfast's own Appendix 4E disclosure.
Most of that gap is a base effect. The prior year included a one-time gain of A$157.4 million recognised when Steadfast took control of New Zealand broker Rothbury Group - an accounting gain on gaining control rather than trading income. What weighed on the current year were non-trading items totalling A$50.4 million after tax and non-controlling interests, including A$27.6 million in write-downs within the portfolio of investments and a A$15.8 million impairment against Rothbury's carrying value, which the group attributed to softer than anticipated New Zealand market conditions.
Group-wide impairment expense fell to A$24.1 million from A$139.1 million.
The clearest forward signal is in what Steadfast has assumed rather than what it reported. Guidance for the coming year is built on Australian insurance premium pricing rising just 2% to 3%, with underlying EBITA forecast at A$700 million to A$715 million and underlying diluted earnings per share growth of 4% to 8%.
That is post-hard-market compression arriving at a group whose growth has been substantially acquisition-led - the same dynamic testing multiples across intermediated markets, including in London wholesale.
Sitting over the transaction is an unresolved leadership question. Kelly, who co-founded Steadfast in 1996 and led its 2013 ASX listing, confirmed earlier this year that he intended to retire. The annual report states the board had intended to name a successor before the FY26 result but paused the search in June after the consortium's approach, with Kelly remaining to oversee the transaction. Both internal contenders have since left the business, and no successor has been named.
For the London market, the question the result does not answer is which owner HWS Specialty ends up with once the scheme completes.
