Tower Limited Analysis

Overview

Tower operates as a prominent private general insurer in New Zealand and across five Pacific Island countries.

As New Zealand's largest direct-to-consumer insurer, Tower is unique in servicing the vast majority of its more than 300,000 customers via its direct channels. The insurer also has a rapidly growing partnership business, which secures mutually beneficial business partnerships that drive policy sales and growth.

Tower has a rich history that spans more than 150 years, starting as the Government Life Insurance Office in 1896. In 1987, it was renamed Tower Corporation, and in 1990 ownership was conferred to its policyholders. The company was one of the first mutual insurers to become a public company when it listed on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges in 1999.

In 2006, the New Zealand and Australian businesses were separated, and Tower has since sold its Australian business.

Today, Tower's focus is on providing simple and rewarding insurance services that customers value. This is achieved through strategies such as customer innovation and investment in large-scale digital transformation, which has enabled the business to evolve rapidly.

By joining forces with like-minded partners, Tower has created a leading range of simple products to suit the modern lifestyles of Kiwi and Pacific communities, including motor EVs, home contents, boat, travel, pet, rural and small business insurance.

Tower is actively managing volatility from climate change through its financial planning and reinsurance. The insurer is also managing its own environmental impacts. Tower was the first New Zealand general insurer to implement address-level risk-based pricing for large events such as earthquakes and flooding.

In 2020, Tower underwent an amalgamation to simplify its corporate structure in New Zealand. Today, Tower Limited remains listed on the NZX, and is listed in Australian as a foreign exempt entity under, in both countries under the ticker TWR.

Performance

The following information was extracted from Tower Limited's full year results, released on 27 November 2025

Tower reports record FY25 result, increased dividends

Kiwi insurer, Tower Limited (NZX/ASX: TWR) today announced a record underlying profit performance for the year ended 30 September 2025, delivering an underlying NPAT of $107.2m and a reported profit of $83.7m. The result was driven by low large events costs and a significantly reduced business-as-usual (BAU) claims ratio, alongside customer growth.

Reported profit reflects adjustments for increased Canterbury earthquake claims cost estimates, the ongoing cost of customer remediations and a provision for software impairment.

FY25 highlights:

• Underlying NPAT: $107.2m (up from $83.5m in FY24)

• Reported profit: $83.7m (up from $74.3m in FY24)

• Gross written premium (GWP): $600m, up 2%

• Customer numbers: 318,000 (up 4%)

• BAU claims ratio: 41% (improved from 48%)

• Combined operating ratio (COR): 74.1% (vs 79%)

• Management expense ratio (MER): steady at 31.4%

Reflecting the positive results, Tower’s Board has declared a fully imputed final dividend of 16.5 cents per share. This brings total dividends for FY25 to 24.5 cents per share.