Genworth Financial Inc.'s third-quarter profit missed analysts' estimates as results deteriorated at its Canadian and Australian mortgage insurance units.
The net loss of $284 million, or $0.57 a share, narrowed from $844 million, or $1.70, a year earlier, the Richmond, Va.-based company said Thursday in a statement.
Chief Executive Officer Tom McInerney has been divesting assets to boost capital after the insurer posted a $1.24 billion annual loss in 2014 tied to higher-than-expected claims costs on its long-term care coverage, which pays for home health aides and nursing-home stays. He also announced deals this year to sell two European units, both at a loss.
"It's a question of selling assets and trying to outrun long-term-care reserve charges," Sean Dargan, an analyst at Macquarie Group, said in a phone interview before results were announced. "They need to find a way to meet their debt maturities."
Operating earnings at its Australian home loan guarantor fell 56% to $21 million from the same period a year earlier, fueled in part by the strength of the U.S. dollar and less favorable tax benefits. The Canadian mortgage insurance unit saw profit decline 17% to $38 million.
The U.S. mortgage insurer's profit jumped to $37 million from a loss of $2 million a year earlier.
McInerney faced the departure of Chief Financial Officer Martin Klein this month. The new CFO, Kelly Groh, will have to work to repair accounting errors in the insurer's calculation of long-term care liabilities. Klein, who led the company as acting CEO for most of 2012, was hired as CFO of Athene Holding, the annuity seller with ties to Apollo Global Management.
