Travel insurance business probably won’t bounce back until 2023: NIB Chief

Nib’s head said that the rebound of its travel insurance business is dependent on international borders reopening, which he thinks probably won’t happen by 2022.

Speaking at a recent interview, following NIB’s business update and full-year outlook, Mark Fitzgibbon said that the ASX-listed company’s international inbound health insurance and travel insurance businesses wouldn’t fully recover until COVID-19 was under control on the global level.

“We like to think international borders could start to open in 2022, but 2023 is probably the year where things return,” he said.

NIB’s update to shareholders noted that the “strong” performance of its core health insurance business in Australia, coupled with the company’s “stable” performance in New Zealand, is “more than offsetting COVID-19-inspired weakness” in its international and travel insurance businesses.

NIB has temporarily halted the sale of new travel insurance policies when the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, before introducing a coronavirus-covered product and scrapping its SureSave brand.

The company expects its overall underlying profit to increase from $86.9 million for the first half of FY21 to between $200 million and $225 million for the full financial year.