DJ Margin Growth at Australian Private Insurers Could Plateau -- Market Talk
2348 GMT - Australian private health insurers may not be able to sustain the industry's recent strong margins, says Citi. The latest regulator statistics showed that private health insurance grew in the March quarter, with the number of persons insured at a record high, and the proportion of the population with coverage also rising. At the same time, Citi says industry net margins were also "robust" in the quarter. Despite this, the investment bank says sustainability of these outcomes could be stymied by utilization bounce back. "So we still see this as consistent with our current forecasts for net margins for Medibank and Nib to gradually reduce, thereby limiting their earnings per share growth outlooks," Citi says. (alice.uribe@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 18, 2021 19:48 ET (23:48 GMT)
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