21st Jun 2005 07:02
Hiscox PLC21 June 2005 HISCOX PLC BOARD CHANGES AND AGM STATEMENT Hiscox plc ("Hiscox"), will make the following announcements today at its AnnualGeneral Meeting. Board changes------------- We are pleased to announce that Sir Mervyn Pedelty and Mr Adrian Auer will jointhe board as non-executive directors on 1st July 2005. Sir Mervyn Pedelty wasChief Executive of The Co-operative Bank plc, Co-operative Financial ServicesLimited and the Co-operative Insurance Society Limited. Adrian Auer was GroupFinance Director of RMC Group plc, and he will succeed Stephen Hall as Chairmanof the Audit Committee. They bring strong financial and business acumen to theboard, and in the case of Sir Mervyn, a broad experience of corporategovernance. Further information on Sir Mervyn Pedelty and Adrian Auer is set outin the notes at the end of this statement. Stephen Hall is to retire as a non-executive director at the end of the yearafter 10 years on the Board. The Board wishes to express its appreciation of hisvaluable contribution to the development of the Group. Trading statement------------------ Hiscox's businesses have made a good start to the year. Market conditions havebecome more competitive, as expected, but a continued focus on profitable,disciplined underwriting and careful risk selection is serving us well. Hiscox Global Markets, the international business trading through Lloyd's, hasreduced its presence in segments such as big ticket property and non-UScatastrophe reinsurance where rates have eased. This has been counter-balanced,in part, by expansion in areas where rates have risen, such as offshore energyand marine reinsurance, and by our focus on smaller specialty risks. We arecurrently in the Lloyd's business planning process and we expect that we willapply for a further reduction of Syndicate 33's capacity for 2006 to £650m(2005: £775m). Hiscox UK has shown strong profitability in the first half. Conditions remainstable in high net worth personal lines. In Professions and SpecialtyCommercial, given the pricing pressure at the top end of the market, we continueto target smaller risks with success. In May this year we launched an onlineprofessional indemnity product for small and sole trader businesses in the ITand marketing professions. Hiscox Europe is making progress, with increased profitability. We have recentlyannounced the appointment of Marc van der Veer as Managing Director for thisbusiness unit. The Group has made further senior appointments with Tim Hardcastle joining asGroup IT Director and Jeremy Pinchin as Group Claims Director. Both IT andclaims are vital to our business. It is pleasing to have two new excellentpeople to lead these areas. Robert Hiscox, Chairman of Hiscox plc, said:"Earnings from the peak of the market are flowing through strongly and willcontinue to do so for some time. Overall, rates in the Global Markets areas arestill strongly profitable despite some much publicised weakening in certainclasses. Our specialist retail businesses are making a growing contribution tothe profitability of the group. Our strategy was designed to flatten the cycle,and it is working." Hiscox will report its interim results on Monday 12th September. For further information:------------------------ Hiscox plcBronek Masojada Chief Executive 020 7448 6012Stuart Bridges Finance Director 020 7448 6013Kylie O'Connor Group Communications 020 7448 6656 The Maitland ConsultancyPhilip Gawith 020 7379 5151Suzanne Bartch 020 7399 5151 Notes to editors---------------- 1.Hiscox plc's AGM takes place today at 11 am at 1 Great St Helen's, London,EC3A 6HX. 2. Sir Mervyn Pedelty was Chief Executive of The Co-operative Bank plc (from1997 to 2004) and of Co-operative Financial Services Limited and theCo-operative Insurance Society Limited (from 2002-2004). He was also a Directorand Deputy Chair of Unity Trust Bank plc from 1997-2004, and a Director of theAssociation of British Insurers from 2002-2004; he is also a previous CouncilMember of the British Bankers' Association. Other current appointments include:Chairman of the FTSE4Good Policy Committee, a Director of Business in theCommunity and a member of the DWP Employer Task Force on Pensions. Mr Adrian Auer was Group Finance Director for the RMC Group plc from 2001-2005.Mr Auer is also Chairman of Readymix plc. Other directorships include, Bespakplc, Foseco plc, Filtrona plc and Shanks plc. Hiscox confirms there is no information to be disclosed under the requirementsof Listing Rule 16.4(b) in relation to either appointment. 3. Hiscox plc is a specialist insurance group listed on the London StockExchange where it has a market capitalization of circa £500 million. There arethree main underwriting parts of the Group - Global Markets, UK andInternational Retail. The Global Markets business underwrites, via Syndicate 33,mainly internationally traded business in the London Market - generally large orcomplex business which needs to be shared with other insurers or needs theinternational licenses of Lloyd's. The UK business offers a wide range ofspecialist insurance for professionals and business customers, as well as highnet worth individuals. It has regional offices in Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds,Maidenhead and Colchester. The European business has offices in Paris,Amsterdam, Munich, Brussels and Guernsey and writes mainly high value householdbusiness and some specialist professional indemnity business. Guernseyunderwrites kidnap and ransom business and fine art. For further information, goto www.hiscox.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Hiscox