24th Apr 2007 07:01
BRIT Insurance Holdings PLC24 April 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE24 April 2007 Brit Insurance Holdings PLC AGM STATEMENT Brit Insurance Holdings PLC ("Brit Insurance" or "the Group"), the UK-basedinternational general insurer and reinsurer, releases the following tradingupdate in advance of its Annual General Meeting, to be held later today: "Brit Insurance has made a positive start to the year, broadly in line with ourexpectations. Business written Gross premiums written by the Group during the three months ended 31 March 2007totalled £388.4m, an increase of 3.9% over the same period in 2006. Premiumgrowth, when adjusted for exchange rate movements, timing differences and otherfactors, (the "underlying increase"), was 15.1%. The strong growth in premium income of our London Market Underwriting Centreseen in 2006 has continued in 2007. This Underwriting centre wrote £205.0m ofgross premiums, an underlying increase of 36.5%. Business written by theReinsurance Underwriting Centre totalled £116.0m, representing an underlyingincrease of 0.7%. The UK Underwriting Centre continued to experience competitiveand challenging conditions, writing £67.5m of premiums in the period, anunderlying reduction of 5.1%Ratings Rating development has also been broadly in line with expectations. Rates forthe London Market Underwriting Centre and the Reinsurance Underwriting Centrehave been on average generally static with some modest increases/decreases incertain classes. UK Underwriting Centre rates, as expected, have continued tosoften during the first quarter of 2007. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Premium Rating Index (Year 2000 as base year)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 December 31 December 31 December 31 December 31 December 31 December 31 December 31 March 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------London MarketAccident &Health n/a 100 131 142 149 152 164 173Aerospace 100 158 202 237 260 268 254 219Financial &Professional 100 122 207 265 280 280 276 270Marine 100 112 144 156 160 171 182 182Property 100 112 150 155 152 151 171 172----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ReinsuranceProperty Treaty 100 110 149 154 153 155 198 217Treaty Casualty 100 115 182 215 230 228 234 233Marine XL 100 115 171 179 183 193 286 288AviationXL 100 100 167 159 139 128 125 125----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------UKEmployers' /PublicLiability n/a 100 200 286 284 257 237 223ProfessionalIndemnity /D&O n/a n/a 100 130 132 130 118 109Motor 100 108 115 120 122 111 104 101Property 100 104 123 132 131 130 125 122---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We emphasise that these indices are to be read with caution. They are based onunderwriters' estimates of rate changes, including adjustments to terms andconditions, and relate to renewal business only, since this represents thebusiness on which we have the best year-on-year data. Claims Claims experience for the year to date has been within our expectations, with nomajor catastrophic insured events. Our prior year reserves have in aggregatecontinued to prove robust. Investments Investment return for the period totalled £34.2m (31 March 2006: £30.9m), anincrease of 10.8%. The Equity portfolio returned 4.32% in the period (FTSE AllShare 2%) and fixed income returned 1.10%. During the period, our total cash andinvestments increased by 4.6% to £2.6bn. Expenses Group management expenses and finance costs (before bonus provisions) for theperiod totalled £33.9m (31 March 2006: £31.2m), an increase of 8.6%. Thisincrease reflects the investment made in the Group's infrastructure during 2006.These increases are in line with our financial plan, supporting our strategicvision of profitable growth. Acquisition costs for the period were £69.2m (or 23.2% of net earned premium)(31.03.2006: £61.1m and 24.0%). Outlook The overall outlook remains positive though market conditions remain challengingin the UK, with the overall trend towards a softening market. Brit Insurancemaintains its strategic targets but will not pursue growth at the expense ofprofitability and shareholder value." -Ends- Enquiries: Dane Douetil, Brit Insurance Holdings PLC 020 7984 8500David Haggie, Haggie Financial 020 7417 8989Peter Rigby, Haggie Financial 020 7417 8989 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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