Suncorp-Metway Falls Most in 19 Years as Profit Declines, Bad Debts Triple

[marmar]

from Bloomberg:



Suncorp Shares Fall Most Since 1989 After Profit Drop (Update1)

By Garfield Reynolds and Bomi Lim

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Suncorp-Metway Ltd., Australia's third-largest general insurer, slumped the most in 19 years in Sydney trading after saying full-year profit fell at least 50 percent as income from wealth management slipped.

Net income for the year ended June 30 was between A$525 million ($494 million) and A$550 million, the Brisbane-based company said today in a statement to the Australian stock exchange. That compares with profit of A$1.1 billion a year earlier.

``Wealth managers are having a bad time with equity markets as volatile as they are,'' said Prasad Patkar, who helps manage about $1.8 billion at Platypus Asset Management in Sydney. ``When the market rallies, companies like this outperform a lot more than the market does. The reverse is what they're suffering now.''

Suncorp is the third Australian financial company in a week to be punished by investors as concern mounts that the global credit contagion is spreading to the nation. National Australia Bank Ltd. and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. both suffered the biggest one-day drops in two decades after saying credit-related costs have hurt earnings.

Suncorp-Metway tumbled 13 percent, or A$1.80, to A$11.58 as of 10:54 a.m. in Sydney on the Australian exchange, set for the biggest one-day drop since June 1989. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aAko5Blz6Haw&refer=home