19th Sep 2007 07:01
BRIT Insurance Holdings PLC19 September 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE19 September 2007 Brit Insurance: Gibraltar based reinsurer Brit Insurance Holdings PLC ('Brit Insurance' or 'the Group') announces that itis to put in place a small team of senior underwriters to work in Gibraltar.Subject to approvals they will develop the reinsurance business of a dedicatedcell in a newly formed and independently owned protected cell company, to beknown as Rockhampton Insurance PCC Limited. Brit Insurance intends to use Rockhampton within its overall risk managementframework to retain a selected part of the outwards reinsurance programmes ofits two principal insurance operations, Brit Insurance Limited and Syndicate2987. From 2008, it is intended that the cell will be offered the opportunity toparticipate in the Group's purchased quota share and excess of loss reinsuranceprogrammes alongside its panel of external reinsurers and on equivalent terms. The cell will be consolidated in the Group's financial statements. The expectedimpact on the Brit Insurance financial statements would be to retain premiumswhich have previously been placed in the market and to increase the Group'searnings per share over the medium term. Subject to performance and marketconditions it is anticipated that Rockhampton's business and range of activitieswill expand over time. Dane Douetil, Chief Executive Officer of Brit Insurance, commented: "As mentioned in our interim statement, we have conducted a thorough review ofour reinsurance purchasing programme. The conclusion was that, in the light ofthe increasing scale, diversity and maturity of our underwriting portfolio,there is scope to increase our retention of non-catastrophe risk withoutcompromising our overall risk appetite and without the need for additionalcapital. Gibraltar is an attractive location with numerous advantages, includingthe availability of PCC legislation, EU licensing, a favourable taxation regimeand good access to London. Rockhampton will become a valuable addition to ourasset and liability management toolkit." Enquiries Dane Douetil, Chief Executive OfficerCarne Curgenven, Communications DirectorBrit Insurance Holdings PLC 020 7984 8500 Peter Rigby, David Haggie or Juliet TilleyHaggie Financial 020 7417 8989 Notes to Editors Brit Insurance's operations principally comprise of three strategic businessunits: Brit Global Markets, Brit Reinsurance and Brit UK. All three have accessto the two regulatory vehicles through which Brit Insurance underwrites: BritInsurance Limited which is a UK FSA regulated insurance company and Lloyd'ssyndicate 2987 which is managed by Brit Syndicates Limited. Brit Insurance hasUK underwriting offices in London, Reading, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds,Darlington, Ilford and Manchester. www.britinsurance.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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