Shareholders in one of the nation's biggest insurers will receive a slashed payout after destructive storms contributed to a massive drop in interim profit.
Suncorp on Wednesday reported a 76 per cent fall in net profit for the six months to December 31 to $263 million, from $1.1 billion a year ago, after paying out tens of thousands of claims related to the storms.
The company's shares dropped 4.4 per cent to $15.28 as it said it would pay an interim dividend of just 17 cents per share, down from 41 cents a year ago.
"This has been a challenging half for the whole insurance industry as we've responded to the extreme weather," Suncorp CEO Steve Johnston told analysts on a conference call.
"It's never good to deliver a profit outcome that's significantly down on the (prior corresponding period)."
Suncorp paid out $542 million in claims from one event alone, a November 25 thunderstorm that damaged vehicles and property across southeastern Australia.
That storm, which belted southeast Queensland with baseball-sized hail, is likely to be one of the costliest in Suncorp's recent history.
Thunderstorms also struck eastern Australia and New Zealand on October 25, resulting in Suncorp having to pay out $358 million in claims.
Suncorp received 71,000 natural hazard claims during the half-year to December and paid out $1.3 billion, which was $453 million above its natural hazard allowance.
Most of the damage involved hail, with 26,400 hail-related claims totalling $708 million in damages.
Suncorp is supporting customers affected by the severe weather and continues to finalise earlier complex claims, including from ex-tropical cyclone Alfred and flooding in Queensland and NSW.
Mr Johnston said he had been on the ground in some of the affected areas, and the financial impact cost of the claims seriously underestimated their impact on the communities.
After the hailstorms Suncorp had deployed a pop-up motor assessment centre that had assessed more than 4,000 vehicles over two weeks, significantly speeding up claims.
"While the impact on profits will be felt in this half-year, I'm very confident that the way we have mobilised to support our customers will be rewarded over the medium to longer term," he said.
The hail events were "relatively random in terms of weather patterns" and there was a less-than-clear connection to climate change dynamics, chief financial officer Jeremy Robson said.
Suncorp's cash earnings also dropped sharply to $270 million from $828 million.
It collected $7.69 billion in gross written premiums, up 2.7 per cent from a year ago, in the six months ended December 30.
The company also touched on artificial intelligence, noting it used 15 different AI chatbots to handle more than 1.6 million digital customer interactions in the half, up more than 28 per cent.
"We believe we are uniquely placed to be towards the front of the AI adoption curve," Mr Johnston said.
Suncorp believed AI could improve product design with hyper-personalised insurance products that would transform claims processes from a customer perspective and address insurance affordability, he said.