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Genworth loses its second-largest mortgage insurance customer

Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia’s second-largest customer, Macquarie Bank, has decided to end its contract with the company.

The decision terminates an exclusivity agreement for providing lenders mortgage insurance, Genworth said in a statement, without naming Macquarie.

Sources confirmed Macquarie Bank is the customer ending the contract, after it was named by the Australian Financial Review. The cancellation will come into effect on April 8.

“The company remains in discussions with this customer about managing default risk in the context of other insurance alternatives,” Genworth said.

The lenders mortgage insurance business under the contract represented 14% of Genworth’s Australian gross written premium (GWP) in 2016.

The insurer warned last month that its second-largest customer was considering alternatives to traditional lenders mortgage insurance, particularly for their less-than-80% loan-to-value ratio portfolio.

Genworth GWP fell 24.8% last year to $381.9 million, while net profit fell 10.9% to $203.1 million.

The company said on Friday it expects GWP this year will fall by 10-15%, maintaining the guidance provided in February.