The AUB Group Ltd (ASX: AUB) share price is in the green on Tuesday after reporting its first-half results for FY25.
At the time of writing, shares in the insurance services company are fetching $25.59 apiece, up nearly 4% from the open as investors digest the news.
Let's see what the company reported for the first half.
AUB share price up after strong H1 FY25 results
AUB reported several key data points from the first half. Here are the main takeaways:
- Revenue from Australian Broking saw a 9.2% increase in average commission and fee income per client
- Underlying net profit after adjustments increased by 12.9% to $79.3 million
- Whereas reported net profit was $26.4 million, down from $53.1 million last year
- Declared an interim dividend of 25 cents per share, up from 20.0 cents per share last year
What else happened in H1 FY25?
The AUB share price had a choppy first half, but the business saw growth across its operations.
Pre-tax profits for its Australian Broking division were up 11.5%, driven by both organic growth and "bolt-on acquisition growth".
Meanwhile, international operations faced a one-off hit from restructuring charges. Excluding these, they were up around 18% over the year.
But the agency division saw a 32.3% bump in pre-tax profit thanks to growth in gross written premiums (GWPs). This is a key metric in the insurance industry.
The Board also declared a dividend of 25 cents per share, a 25% increase from last year.
Finally, BizCover, AUB's small business insurance platform, grew its pre-tax profits by 28.5% over the year. This reported growth seems to be impacting the AUB share price positively today.
What did management say?
AUB CEO Michael Emmett was notably positive commenting on the company's H1 numbers.
We are making outstanding progress to build a multi-country Insurance Services Group, strategically establishing a portfolio of retail and wholesale brokers, underwriting agencies, and businesses that provide essential risk advisory and technology services to our clients and partners.Our owner-driver model, which has been a proven success in Australia and New Zealand, continues to resonate strongly in international markets, reinforcing our competitive advantage.
Although we are still in the early stages of replicating our successful Australian model internationally, we now have a diverse set of strategic levers to drive revenue, margin expansion and sustained earnings growth for AUB Group shareholders.
What's next?
Management reaffirmed guidance for FY25, calling for underlying net profit to grow between 11% and 17% compared to last year.
This would mean $190 million to $200 million in profit for the year if management is correct. This also assumes no acquisitions are made
Investors can expect their dividend payment on April 4 this year, with the record date on March 7.
AUB share price snapshot
The AUB share price is catching a bid today as investors react to the company's H1 FY25 earnings update.
Zooming out, the share is down more than 2% in the past year of trade.
