Suncorp has targeted revenue growth of 4-6% this financial year after an excellent result last year and “good progress against our market commitments”, CEO Patrick Snowball says.

The group’s general insurance business delivered net profit after tax of more than $1 billion last financial year, he told last week’s AGM in Brisbane.

“The most crucial indicator to focus on is the margin. This tells you how well we are pricing risk and managing claims.”

Four years ago the margin was below 9%, but last year’s underlying and reported margins were both above 14%. The insurance businesses will also achieve underlying insurance margins of at least 12% next year, Mr Snowball says.

“At the same time, we grew our top-line revenue by more than 5%.”

This year Suncorp expects further benefits from its simplification programs in IT, procurement and other areas, plus its long-tail claims re-engineering, supply chain initiatives and cheaper reinsurance.

“These are all supportive of future profit margins and growth,” Mr Snowball told shareholders.

Last year the group wrote off $496 million of intangibles from Suncorp Life. Mr Snowball says the “decision to rebase our assumptions for lapses and claims was absolutely the right thing to do”.

Suncorp is making good progress changing commission structures for independent financial advisers, bringing direct distribution in-house, increasing sales to the general insurance customer base and selling Everyday Super to its bank customer base.

Last financial year, the group provided more than $1.8 billion of home and personal loans, paid $6.6 billion of home, contents and motor insurance claims and $581 million of life insurance and income protection benefits, Mr Snowball says.

Chairman Ziggy Switkowski says while the group result is strong, it still reflects issues in the life insurance industry.

Now legacy issues such as “life business assumptions” have been resolved, the unit is in its strongest position in recent history, laying a good foundation for continued growth, Mr Switkowski says.

“It is the final piece in positioning each of the lines of business with a clear outlook, with balance sheets unencumbered by legacy or industry issues,” he said.

Last financial year Suncorp posted a profit of $730 million – up 49%.