SYDNEY, June 29, 2026, 02:01 AEST
- QBE finished at A$24.84 on Friday, sitting just under 1% away from the A$25.08 high hit Thursday.
- The stock gained roughly 3.2% this week. The S&P/ASX 200 dropped around 0.7%.
- QBE’s most recent 1Q26 update kept its FY26 guidance unchanged, still calling for mid-single-digit premium growth and a combined operating ratio near 92.5%.
- The company lists Tuesday as the close of the June half-year. Results and the dividend are expected Aug. 14.
QBE Insurance Group Limited ASX:QBE opened the week trading near a one-year high. The stock pushed higher while the broader Australian market fell. Investors took another look at the insurer’s first-half claims record.
Normal trading on the ASX cash market hadn’t started at the dateline. Standard hours for the market are 09:59:45 to 16:00 in Sydney, according to the .
QBE ended Friday at A$24.84, slipping 0.16% for the session. Shares had reached A$25.08 during Thursday trading. Compared with last week’s A$24.06 finish, QBE is up 3.2%. Volume on Friday was 3.27 million shares.
The spread versus the benchmark offered more clarity. The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) finished Friday at 8,764.20, which was a gain of 0.18% for the day but a loss of 0.73% from last Friday’s close of 8,828.70. QBE outperformed the index by about four percentage points for the week.
QBE shares have less leeway for a weak first-half result after the latest rally. The insurer’s half-year closes on June 30, with results and the dividend set to drop Aug. 14.
QBE hasn’t issued a new trading update in the last two sessions. The most recent listed company items were securities notices, posted June 23 and 24. Earlier, QBE made capital-management announcements in May and June.
QBE’s 1Q26 update from May is the main data point investors have for this week. QBE posted 7% gross written premium growth, constant currency. Catastrophe costs for April year-to-date came in at about $300 million against a $517 million first-half allowance. Investment income was $305 million. QBE left its 2026 guidance unchanged, still looking for mid-single-digit premium growth and a combined operating ratio around 92.5%.
QBE has climbed faster in its 2026 move than in the past week. The stock is up 26.09% for the year through Friday, according to Intelligent Investor. It hit a 2026 high of A$25.08 and a low of A$19.33.
QBE investors are watching more than just headline forecasts. Back in November, QBE shares dropped after the company reported group premium rate growth slowed to around 1.5% for the nine months ended Sept. 30. “For QBE, the market has reacted to the rate of premium increases slowing significantly in the first nine months of the year,” Greg Smith, investment specialist at Generate KiwiSaver Scheme, told Reuters at the time. Reuters
Claims quality is the next hurdle. After QBE’s 2025 interim result, Morningstar’s Nathan Zaia told Reuters, “It is always hard to predict movements in claims half on half, always a risk.” QBE beat first-half profit estimates, but shares still fell about 9% as investors doubted if some profit drivers would last. Reuters
QBE CEO Andrew Horton put out higher numbers in February, posting 2025 statutory net profit after tax of $2.16 billion and adjusted net profit after tax of $2.13 billion. “Profitability remains attractive across the majority of lines and the year ahead appears constructive for further growth,” Horton said at the time. QBE DEV
