Genworth Financial says it is "cautious" about the timing and prospects for the planned sale of a 40 per cent stake in its Australian subsidiary.Thomas McInerney, chief executive of Genworth, reiterated in an investor call on Tuesday night that the US insurance company was "targeting the fourth quarter of this year or later for our Australian IPO."He said the timing was "based on when we could get the best results for our shareholders... Overall, the Australian IPO market has seen some improvement. But uncertainty regarding [the] recent outlook in the mining sector, and from China, make us cautious about the Australian IPO market. "We would intend to proceed with the IPO if it makes sense for shareholders, based on Australian equity market conditions and valuation, and regulatory considerations."More broadly, McInerney said: "I'm satisfied [that] the global mortgage insurance businesses are performing well... driven by the expectation that Canada and Australia will continue to perform well."Kevin Schneider, president of the mortgage insurance division, said: "We're very focused on monitoring Western Australia and, to a lesser extent, Queensland. Western Australia continues to perform very, very well. Our delinquencies are improving there. "Queensland, I would characterise as stable to improving. "We have seen some reduction in capital expenditures related to infrastructure around mining, but, overall, commodity prices are actually holding up and have stabilised. "We do have some, I would say, credit policy levers to pull if we see some deterioration there, and we're cautiously monitoring that going forward. "I think the real pressure we're cautious of, as we monitor China and the impact on Australia, is would a further slowdown have some further impact on consumer confidence, and how might that play into performance in the marketplace. "Our underlying delinquency development is holding up pretty well. "I think the next question, whether you stated it or not, is what's the implication that might have… [regarding] what's going on with the equity markets. "And we think, so far, that they've held up pretty well and shouldn't have a material impact based upon what we've seen so far… although we will continue to monitor it because further deterioration could create some risks to the market."