.
Insurance Australia Group Limited (ASX:IAG) has confirmed its annual guidance for the year ending on June 30, 2014.
The insurer expects to report gross written premium growth of between 3 and 5 per cent over the year. Within this result the company expects its Australia Direct business will see relatively flat gross written premium but an improvement in its underlying margin.
IAG has advised Australia Direct represented 48 per cent of the company’s gross written premium and 54 per cent of its profit in the first half of the current financial year.
The guidance comes just weeks after IAG scored the green light from Australia’s competition regulator to buy Wesfarmers Limited (ASX:WES) Australian insurance underwriting business. The $1.84 billion acquisition is expected to be tied up by the end of the current financial year.
IAG improved its net profit to $676 million in the first half of the 2014 financial year.
(20min delay)