Steadfast expects premium rate increases to continue at a similar pace this financial year, while it will also benefit from its acquisition pipeline. 

The group has forecast underlying net profit after tax of $230-240 million and underlying earnings before interest, tax and amortisation of $500-510 million after last week delivering its tenth consecutive record underlying result. 

CEO Robert Kelly says the outlook encompasses “organic growth doing the heavy lifting” complemented by an expected $280 million of acquisitions. 

Steadfast underlying net profit rose 22.5% to $207 million last financial year driven by pricing and volume increases in the broking and underwriting agencies as well as acquisitions, which included the purchase of Insurance Brands Australia. 

Statutory net profit was $189.2 million compared with $171.6 million a year early, including non-trading net losses mainly due to actual earnout payments for businesses acquired being more than expected.  

Steadfast Network Brokers reported record gross written premium (GWP) of $11.6 billion, up 12.8% as the hardening market and solid volume growth more than mitigated expected cost increases, while underwriting agencies GWP rose 16.7% to $2.1 billion and   

The company says $1.2 billion of GWP was transacted on the Steadfast Client Trading Platform (SCTP) and during the year additional insurers were added for private motor, home, landlords, residential strata and fleet. 

“SCTP enhancement is an important part of Steadfast’s strategy,” Mr Kelly says. “The focus remains on continued development and more product lines, new insurers and the expansion of auto-rating policy classes.” 

The next commercial product line under development is farm, which is expected to be live next calendar year. 

Steadfast says it is close to announcing an expansion in the US, and expects to provide details at the annual general meeting on October 27. 

Mr Kelly, currently Chairman of the US-based insurance standards body, the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD), says he has built up knowledge of US distribution over more than a decade and the company is well placed to expand in that market. 

“We’ve had six targets to look at over the last two years, we’ve refined that down to a couple and we will by the AGM be in a position to tell you about what we’ve doing on the international expansion,” he said.