Tower lifts profit guidance, driven by strong customer growth

Tower announced on September 12, 2025, an upward revision to its underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) guidance for the year ending September 30, 2025. The company now expects underlying NPAT to be between $100m and $110m, provided no large events are recorded in September. This is a substantial increase from the previous guidance of $70m to $80m, partly due to only $7m in large events costs recorded to date, resulting in an expected return of $31m ($43m before tax) to underlying NPAT.

Customer growth remains robust, with the customer base increasing by 5% to 318,000 and policy numbers up by 4% year-to-date, driven primarily by a 10% policy growth in the New Zealand house insurance portfolio. However, gross written premium (GWP) growth guidance has been revised down to between 2% to 3% from mid-single digit growth, attributed to a higher proportion of lower-risk new policies and competitive pricing.

The management expense ratio (MER) guidance is revised to around 31% from <31%, reflecting the lower GWP alongside continued investment in technology and growth initiatives. Tower expects to release further details on its FY25 performance in November.