SYDNEY, May 4, 2026, 06:07 AEST
- QBE Insurance Group’s annual meeting and first-quarter performance update are due on Friday, putting fresh focus on its 2026 outlook after a strong 2025 result.
- The insurer’s board is urging shareholders to vote against climate-risk disclosure and governance resolutions promoted by Australian Ethical and SIX.
- QBE shares last closed at A$22.47 on May 1, up 14.06% so far in 2026, according to market data compiled by Intelligent Investor.
QBE Insurance Group heads into its annual meeting week with investors due to vote on climate-risk resolutions and hear a first-quarter performance update that will test whether the insurer can keep momentum after last year’s profit jump.
The Sydney-based insurer is due to hold its annual general meeting at 10 a.m. Sydney time on May 8, with shareholders able to attend in person, online or by teleconference. Questions must be lodged by Wednesday, QBE said.
The meeting matters now because QBE has already set a fairly firm bar for 2026. It has guided to mid-single-digit growth in gross written premium — the value of policies written before reinsurance — and a combined operating ratio of about 92.5%. A combined operating ratio below 100% means an insurer is taking in more from premiums than it pays out in claims and costs.
QBE ended 2025 with statutory net profit after tax of $2.16 billion, up from $1.78 billion a year earlier, and adjusted net profit after tax of $2.13 billion. Group CEO Andrew Horton said QBE had “exceeded our financial plan,” a line investors will now weigh against any first-quarter comments on claims, pricing and growth. QBE DEV
Capital returns are also in the frame. QBE completed its A$450 million on-market buyback in April, buying back 21.1 million shares for A$449,999,992.79, a final buyback notice showed.
The board declared a final dividend of 78 Australian cents a share for 2025, taking the full-year dividend to 109 cents, up from 87 cents a year earlier. QBE said the payout equalled 50% of adjusted net profit after tax, within its 40% to 60% policy range.
But the climate vote could make the meeting less routine. Shareholders are being asked to back resolutions seeking more disclosure on portfolios that may face withdrawal, reduced underwriting capacity or material repricing because of physical climate risk, along with more detail on governance around oil and gas underwriting. QBE’s board says the resolutions would not be decision-useful and recommends votes against them.
The same shareholder materials put QBE beside peers including IAG and Suncorp, saying some rivals have adopted tighter restrictions on oil and gas underwriting. QBE’s board says its existing disclosure and governance framework is the better route, rather than adding prescriptive requirements through a shareholder resolution.
Board succession will also be watched. QBE said in March that Kathy Lisson would step down from the board after the AGM, with chairman Mike Wilkins thanking her for her “technology and transformation” counsel. The company said it was searching for a replacement. QBE DEV
The risk for QBE is that softer premium rates, weather losses or higher reinsurance costs could erode the margin implied by its guidance. The company’s own climate disclosures acknowledge uncertainty around premium affordability and reinsurance cost and availability, and earlier market reaction to slowing premium-rate growth showed how quickly investors can punish a weaker pricing signal.
For now, the stock has held up. At A$22.47, QBE is trading above the price at which it released its 2025 results in February and above the early-March level around the shareholder resolution filings, market data showed.
