Australia's Challenger rises; Macquarie raises PT on strong quarterly results

Challenger

23/04/2025 04:34

** Shares of Challenger CGF.AX rise 2.5% to A$7.055, set for fourth session of consecutive gains

** Insurer on Thursday reported a 20% jump in Q3 total life annuity sales at A$991 million

** Macquarie notes that the firm's retail annuity sales grew by 2% y-o-y while institutional annuity sales surged by 200%, reflecting its strategic focus on longer maturity and higher-margin business

** Macquarie raises its price target A$7 from A$6.60, while maintaining "Outperform" rating

** Brokerage also highlights that Japanese sales contributed ~24.2% of the Q3 sales, indicating CGF's significant market presence in Japan

** Stock up 17.6% YTD

(Reporting by Kumar Tanishk in Bengaluru)

((Tanishk.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; X: @thatstanishk http://www.x.com/thatstanishk;))