Insurer Hiscox says premiums remain stable
FTSE 250 insurer Hiscox yesterday announced a slight decline in premiums written during the first three months of the year to £450.7m, down from £453.5m for the same period last year.
But after the firm suffered from substantial claims during the last two years investors will be pleased to hear that the quarter has been “relatively benign” for most areas of the business.
“The year has started well with good growth in retail lines, a strong investment return and the reinsurance renewals in April beating our expectations,” added chief executive Bronek Masojada.
Hiscox said that rates for catastrophe exposed lines were up and that the firm had doubled the cost of insuring against earthquakes in Japan following the disaster of March 2011.
Its flagship Hiscox London Market department, responsible for writing Lloyd’s of London business, is now responsible for just £180.7m of total group premiums of £450.7m
But the non-Lloyd’s UK business increased premiums from £86.2m to £89.1m for the quarter on a like-for-like basis, buoyed by strong growth in speciality commercial lines and high retention levels in the art and private client business.
Shares in the firm closed yesterday up 0.1 per cent at 396.3p.
Last year the firm recorded profits of £17.3m during a period when many of peers succumbed to substantial losses following earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand and floods in Thailand.