7th May 2014 08:29
LONDON (Alliance News) - esure Group PLC Wednesday drew attention to competitive markets in motor and home insurance as it reported a slight drop in first-quarter gross written premiums but left its outlook for the remainder of the year unchanged.
In a statement, esure, known for its Sheilas' Wheels motor-insurance-for-women brand, said first-quarter gross written premiums declined to GBP123.5 million from GBP124.2 million, with motor down 0.5% and home down 1.0%. The growth in additional services revenue, excluding claims income, grew in line with the increase in in-force policies from the first-quarter of 2013.
Total policies in-force increased to about 2.0 million from 1.9 million over the course of the quarter.
Additional services revenues fell to GBP24.7 million from GBP25.6 million. Excluding claims income, additional services revenue increased to GBP23.1 million from GBP21.1 million.
Severe weather events at the beginning of the quarter are estimated to have cost up to GBP3.0 million more than normally expected during the quarter, at the lower end of the guidance given in March, esure said.
"As we indicated at our preliminary results in March, market conditions remained highly competitive during the first-quarter with further market rate reductions across both motor and home," Stuart Vann, chief executive, said in a statement.
"In this environment, we have maintained a disciplined approach to underwriting with gross written premiums broadly flat, Vann added.
Vann said esure continued to seek "pockets of opportunity" to grow in-force policies.
esure shares were Wednesday quoted at 257.70 pence, up 0.7%.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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