Genworth Mortgage Insurance has posted a 52.8% slump in first-half net profit to $41.9 million.

The decline partly reflects the lenders’ mortgage insurer changing the way it measures premium earned, plus tighter lending requirements in the housing market.

Total revenue, as measured by net earned premium, decreased 32.3% to $143.3 million. New insurance written fell 21.4% to $10.3 million.

Gross written premium grew 46.4% to $266.8 million, lifted by Genworth’s new Bermudan insurance business, which offers bespoke risk management for portfolio cover across high and low loan-to-value ratios.

Insurance profit fell 66% to $34.6 million as claims paid increased to $77.7 million from $72.7 million in the corresponding period last year. The loss ratio worsened to 53.3% from 34.8% and the delinquency rate increased to 0.54% from 0.51%.

CEO Georgette Nicholas says Genworth will press on with a strategic program to redefine its business model.

“Over the remainder of [the year] we will continue to roll out further initiatives… and will provide updates of our progress as part of our quarterly results announcements,” she said.