Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia has registered its first year of profit growth in four years, reporting net profit growth of 59 per cent for the 12 months to the December.Net profit was A$120 million, compared with $76 million in 2018. On an underlying basis, after excluding mark-to-market performance of the investment portfolio, profit was up 3 per cent from $94 million in 2018 to $97 million last year.The return on equity, based on underlying profit, was 6 per cent - up from 5.2 per cent the previous year.Gross written premium fell 6 per cent to $433 million. After adjusting for a one-off deal in 2018, GWP rose 17 per cent. Net earned premium rose 6 per cent to $298 million.The loss ratio was 50.6 per cent. The delinquency rate rose two basis points.The number of paid claims rose 3 per cent to 1352. The average claim paid was $96,600.Genworth's acting chief executive Duncan West said in a statement: "Our result reflects more favourable market conditions providing an impetus to housing market activity, especially in the second half of the year."Higher GWP reflected higher volume growth in traditional LMI business as property prices picked up in the second half of the year.West said the company had worked on its product set and this had also contributed to growth.Product initiatives included a new monthly premium offering, an automated underwriting decision platform and risk management solutions.Commonwealth Bank renewed its contract for three years. Genworth has relationships with more than 100 lenders.West said the impact of bushfires on the business would be "insignificant". However, any economic downturn in affected areas could result in an increase in delinquencies.