Genworth Mortgage Insurance’s third-quarter net profit has fallen 31.3% to $32.1 million, reflecting drops in new business written and gross written premium (GWP).

New insurance written slumped 9.8% to $5.5 billion compared with the corresponding period last year. This included $800 million of new insurance written in bulk portfolio transactions.

GWP slipped 3.9% to $88.9 million, reflecting changes in the customer portfolio, partially offset by changes in the business mix.

Net earned premium of $100.1 million was down 13.6%, reflecting lower earned premium from recent book years.

Investment income was $15.6 million, including a pre-tax mark-to-market unrealised loss of $12 million. At September 30 Genworth’s investment portfolio was worth $3.4 billion.

CEO and MD Georgette Nicholas says the third-quarter results demonstrate an ability to manage through various cycles, including the slowdown in the resources sector.

“Our profitability remains strong in light of the small high loan-to-value ratio market and continued development of losses in mining areas,” she said.

Genworth says the third-quarter results point to moderating house price growth following measures to slow investment lending and limit interest-only lending.

NSW and Victoria continue to perform well, but Queensland and WA remain challenging and delinquencies are elevated due to the resources sector slowdown.

Genworth expects its annual net earned premium to decline by about 10-15%.