Commonwealth Bank (CBA) says its general insurance business improved its cash earnings in the half-year to December 31 to $91 million, due to lower catastrophe claims losses.

In the corresponding period of 2019, earnings crashed by more than half to $32 million as a result of about $112 million in claims from bushfires and Queensland hailstorms.

However, the December half results are 17% lower than the preceding June period, reflecting the claims impact from last October’s Queensland hailstorms.

The business is still under a strategic review that the bank announced in 2018, a spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “We continue to explore alternatives for our general insurance business,” the spokesman said.

Analysts say the review is expected to lead to a sale of the business as the bank has been divesting its non-core lending assets.

CBA reported overall first-half statutory net profit after tax fell 20.8% to $4.88 billion and cash profit declined 10.8% to $3.89 billion.