Australia's Challenger hits 2-mth high of Q1 results, sale of bank

Heartland group

20/10/2022 04:49

(Adds Jefferies comments)
    ** Challenger Ltd  CGF.AX  climb as much as 10.4% to A$7.14,
their highest since Aug. 15
    ** The investment manager signs deal to sell Challenger Bank
to Heartland Group Holdings  HGH.NZ  for ~A$36 mln ($22.5 mln)
    ** Co posts 33% y-o-y jump in Q1 life sales to A$2.8 bln,
although reports AUM fell 2% to A$96 bln
    ** Co reaffirms FY23 normalised pre-tax profit forecast
    ** Jefferies says CGF's strong sales momentum likely to
continue over rest of FY23, with improving investment yields
translating to increasing annuity rates
    ** Brokerage reaffirms its 'buy' rating
    ** Stock up for third straight day; as of last close, CGF
had lost ~1% YTD
 (Reporting by Upasana Singh and Echha Jain in Bengaluru)
 ((Upasana.Singh@thomsonreuters.com))