The NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF) share price fell on Thursday, closing 3.68% lower at $6.02.

Meantime, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished 0.40% higher at 7,982.4 points.

The ASX financial share hit an intraday low of $6.01, which is not far off its 52-week low of $5.98. The health insurer hit that new annual low share price on 26 August after it released its FY24 report.

NIB revealed a net profit after tax (NPAT) of $181.6 million in FY24, up an impressive 67.4%.

This was one of the biggest profit boosts reported during earnings season. However, investors were unimpressed. The NIB share price tumbled 17.74% on the day the report was released.

So, why did NIB stock languish close to its 52-week low today?

There's a simple reason.

NIB share price falls amid ASX 200 gain on Thursday

The NIB share price only fell today because it's ex-dividend day.

That means NIB shares bought from today do not have the entitlement to the next dividend attached.

That dividend is worth 14 cents per share with 100% franking. NIB will pay its investors on 8 October.

The final dividend comes on top of the company's interim dividend of 15 cents per share, which was paid in April.

All up, NIB's full-year dividend was 29 cents per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4.81% plus franking on the closing NIB share price.

How did NIB's FY24 numbers look?

The company reported a 9.3% uplift in revenue in FY24 to $3.3 billion. It increased its number of policyholders by 2.5%, which it expects will be above the industry average.

NIB said it had a record year of sales in its Australian residents health insurance (arhi) segment.

It also reported a 19% increase in international inbound health insurance (iihi) revenue to $192.8 million due to strong demand from overseas workers coming to Australia.

NIB said its New Zealand insurance revenue rose by 10.2% to $371.2 million.

The NIB Travel gross profit (after acquisition costs) increased by 7.8% to $54.2 million as the global travel market continued to recover from COVID-19.

NIB Thrive NDIS fee income also went up by 39.8% to $51.3 million.

But the year also brought some challenges, including a 4.9% increase in claim costs to $2.1 billion.

NIB CEO Mark Fitzgibbon said:

Claims experience is accelerating from an artificially low COVID-19 utilisation base and together with hospital cost pressures, is placing pressure on premiums and underwriting margins. This inflation is manageable and will normalise in the medium term.

NIB share price snapshot

The NIB share price is down 18% in the year to date compared to a 23% lift in the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) over the same period.