STEADFAST GROUP LIMITED Steadfast Group | 2022 |
Annual Report |
Vision:
Continually growing shareholder value through our leading general insurance distribution model and related businesses domestically and internationally.
Mission:
Continue to deliver value to our broker network and stakeholders by being a market leader and an innovator in insurance and risk management.
Values:
Our corporate values resonate across all facets of our business.
Contents
02 Message from the Chair
04 Message from the Managing Director & CEO
07 Continued strong track record since listing on ASX
08 Message from the Chief Financial Officer
10 How we create value
12 Our business
20 Board of Directors
22 Senior Management Team
25 Corporate and Social Responsibility and Environmental, Social and Governance
41 Financial Report
- Glossary of Terms
- Corporate Directory
Contents
Annual General Meeting
The Steadfast Group FY22 Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday, 20 October 2022. Steadfast will provide further details with the notice of the 2022 Annual General Meeting to be released in September 2022.
Steadfast Group Annual Report 2022 01
Message from the Chair
On behalf of the Directors, I am again pleased to report another year of excellent Steadfast Group earnings, with our FY22 underlying net profit after tax at the top end of our upgraded guidance range advised in February 2022.
The Group produced a 29.5% increase in underlying earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) to $340.4 million and a 29.3% increase in underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) to $169.0 million. Pleasingly, we reported an increase of 16.5% in underlying earnings per share to
17.58 cents. The Group has delivered this record result against the backdrop of geopolitical unrest, rising inflation and the continuing global pandemic.
Statutory net profitafter tax, including non-recurring net gains, was $171.6 million compared with $143.0 million for FY21.
Dividend
The Board has declared a fully-franked final dividend of
7.8 cents per share (cps), up 11.4% from last year. This takes the total dividend to 13.0 cps (fully-franked), up 14.0% on FY21.
The Group's strong performance has continued since listing in 2013. Our total shareholder return was 17.0% for the year and since listing has been 399.6%.
Accumulated total shareholder return (TSR) (%)
500 | |||||||||
400 | |||||||||
300 | |||||||||
200 | |||||||||
100 | |||||||||
0 | |||||||||
IPO | FY14 | FY15 | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 |
Capital management
We continue to be prudent with our capital as
we assess potential acquisition opportunities against disciplined criteria. We made a number of earnings accretive acquisitions during FY22 for a total investment of $552 million, with the largest acquisition being CoverForce for $411 million.
02 Steadfast Group Annual Report 2022
The Group has produced consistently strong results since listing in 2013.
Steadfast has already completed some small acquisitions for FY23, and on 17 August 2022 announced the acquisition of Insurance Brands Australia for consideration of up to $301.0 million (including up to $25m of deferred consideration, subject to performance criteria) to be funded by existing debt facilities and the issue of new Steadfast Group shares to the vendors.
In addition to the above, the current Trapped Capital acquisitons pipeline is around $400 million. We anticipate completing acquisitions costing around $220 million
in FY23, with these acquisitions being funded by the underwritten Institutional Placement of $225 million to be conducted on 17 August 2022, followed by an associated Share Purchase Plan.
At 30 June 2022 our Group gearing ratio was 19.0% (excluding premium funding) which is well within the Board-mandated Group maximum of 30%. We consider a low level of gearing is prudent given rising interest rates, inflation and current uncertainties around the world. After the capital raise, Steadfast will have unutilised facilities of $320 million (plus free cash flow) for future expansion, including the Trapped Capital initiative.
Governance
Your Board acknowledges its responsibility to work with management to implement and support Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives within Steadfast Group are integral to the sustainability and continuing financial growth of our business. Steadfast Group continues to positively contribute to the communities in which we operate, mitigate the environmental impact of our business activities and ensure the fair treatment of our customers, employees and suppliers.
Steadfast recognises that climate change, together with increased urbanisation, continues to be a global risk and a material issue for the insurance industry, including insurers, customers and the whole economy. In recognition of the issues arising from climate change, Steadfast announced its intention to publish a carbon- neutral transition plan by the end of 2022. We set out our intention to increase ESG commitments in more detail on page 28 of this report.
Steadfast Group continues to adhere to the corporate governance principles as set out by the ASX Corporate Governance Council. Our governance framework and robust risk management strategies are set out in more detail on page 39. I note another year in which there were no material departures from these principles.
Thank you
On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank our
people, including our highly experienced CEO & Managing Director, Robert Kelly, and our executive team for their significant contribution to deliver outstanding results for our shareholders and superior support to our Network Brokers and other stakeholders.
Our strong performance would not have been possible without the outstanding contribution from Steadfast brokers, Steadfast Underwriting Agencies and complementary businesses, and our ever expanding network and the loyalty of our clients.
During the year, Philip Purcell retired as a Director after nine years on the Steadfast Board. The Board, the employees and our Network Brokers are very grateful to Philip for his outstanding contribution, particularly in the areas of insurance law, people management and governance.
I would like to welcome Joan Cleary, to the Steadfast Group Board. Joan has over thirty years of global finance and leadership experience in the general insurance and reinsurance industry.
Finally, I would also like to extend my gratitude to my fellow Board Directors who continue to
be focused on driving increased shareholder value, supporting the Steadfast team and improving our already strong governance.
Frank O'Halloran, AM
Chair
Steadfast Group Annual Report 2022 03
This is an excerpt of the original content. To continue reading it, access the original document here.
Attachments
- Original Link
- Original Document
- Permalink
Disclaimer
Steadfast Group Ltd. published this content on 18 August 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 18 August 2022 00:53:01 UTC.
