The Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF) share price rose 4% on Wednesday after giving its September 2018 update, according to Google Finance.
Challenger is Australia’s largest annuity business with a market share of around 90% of new annuities.
Challenger’s September 2018 update:
Challenger revealed that total annuity sales had grown by 7%, or $74 million, to $1.171 billion on the prior corresponding period (pcp) of the September 2017 quarter.
Australian fixed term annuity sales grew by 25% to $849 million and fixed term annuity sales, including Japanese MS Primary, grew by 7%. Net Life annuity flows for the quarter were $370 million, an increase of 5% compared to last year.
Challenger’s total funds under management (FUM) grew by $0.3 billion to $78.2 billion.
The annuity business also revealed a new distribution deal with Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL) meaning that Challenger’s range of fixed-term and lifetime annuities will soon be on the Netwealth platform.
Challenger CEO Brian Benari said: “Continued growth in annuity sales reflects strong demand for secure income from the growing number of retirees with increasing retirement savings.”
FY19 Outlook
Challenger said it remains on track to achieve normalised net profit before tax growth of between 8% and 12% for FY19. It is also targeting an 18% pre-tax normalised return on equity (ROE).
The company recently revealed a 6% rise of its normalised net profit before tax in the FY18 report.
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