by Chris Becker

Here’s another casualty from the “negative price growth” in Australian houses: Genworth.

The mortgage insurance company just posted a fifty percent profit drop on the back of poor lending and “weak household consumption”.

More from the The Australian:

The company, spun out of US-based Genworth Financial in 2014, said the cooling of prices and home-market activity continued into the second quarter, led by Sydney and Melbourne, and the trend is expected to continue as lending remains under pressure from regulatory macro-prudential measures and tightening credit standards.

It said the metropolitan markets in Sydney and Melbourne are likely to continue to lead the trend, through rates of decline in regions linked to the mining industry in Queensland and Western Australia states should stabilise.

The company, which remains majority owned by Genworth Financial, said its first-half net profit dropped 53 per cent to $41.9 million from $88.7m a year earlier as new insurance written for the six months dropped 21 per cent to $10.3 billion.

Yet they’re still paying a dividend, because gosh darn it, shareholders deserve some return, given its down nearly 16% from its peak nearly two years ago:

Watch for that $2.30 level to come under threat….

Genworth taken to cleaners on profit slump