2nd Mar 2006 07:01
Amlin PLC02 March 2006 AMLIN PLC PRESS RELEASEFor immediate release(02 March 2006) SYNDICATE RESULTS AND FORECASTS Amlin reports record 2003 syndicate profit Amlin plc ("Amlin") today released Syndicate 2001's final result for the 2003year of account, an updated forecast for the 2004 year of account and a forecastfor the 2005 year of account. Amlin also indicated that its result for the yearended 31 December 2005 will be materially ahead of market expectations. The result and forecasts in the table below are after all personal expenses andare expressed as a percentage of capacity. Capacity % Profit /currentYear of account £m Owned forecast Previous forecast 2003 1,000.0 86.2 25.4% 21% to 26%2004 1,000.0 100.0 9.0% to 14.0% 8% to 13%2005 850.0 100.0 1.5% to 6.5% N/a The 25.4% 2003 result is a record result for the syndicate beating the 2002 yearof account result of a 21.7% return. It reflects strong trading conditions forthe year and a low level of loss incidence across most classes of the businesswith all divisions producing excellent returns for the year. The improvement in the 2004 forecast reflects continued good claims development. The combined impact of the 2004 and 2005 windstorm losses for this year ofaccount are reserved at £93.3 million, net of reinsurance, or 9.3% of capacity. The 2005 year of account is at an early stage of development and a cautiousapproach has been adopted in setting the forecast. The 2005 windstorm lossesare reserved at £121.3 million, net of reinsurance, or 14.3% of capacity. Thisforecast illustrates that underlying trading conditions remained good in 2005. Future reporting Following a change in Lloyd's byelaws the principal syndicate accounts for theyear ended 31 December 2005 will be produced on an annual accounting basis,rather than the year of account format that has been required in the past. Withthe closure of the 2003 year of account Amlin no longer has third party capitalparticipation on Syndicate 2001 and will not be required to produce underwritingaccounts for distribution. Equally, with the commencement of trading through Amlin Bermuda and theassociated intra group transactions, including a quota share reinsurance ofSyndicate 2001, the Company believes that it will not be relevant to continue toproduce year of account forecasts for Syndicate 2001. A quarterly tradingstatement will replace the usual quarterly syndicate forecasts and this willreport the UK and Bermudian operations on a consistent basis. Amlin plc With the strength of the fourth quarter performance, Amlin expects that the 2005consolidated result for Amlin plc will be significantly better than marketexpectations. This is due to a combination of lower than anticipated claimsdevelopment, a strong investment return and exchange gains under IFRS ofapproximately £26 million together with a realised gain of £6 million from thefunding of Amlin Bermuda. Additionally the Group's effective tax rate hasreduced as a result of unprovided deferred tax assets being utilised to offsetcapital gains on the Group's equity portfolio. It is anticipated that the Group's pre tax profit for the year ended 31 December2005 will be not less than £175 million and that the post tax profit will be notless than £130 million. Charles Philipps, Chief Executive of Amlin, said: "Yet again, the benefits ofour diversity, approach to risk management and high quality team has resulted inexcellent performance, even after the costs of hurricanes Katrina, Rita andWilma." Enquiries: Charles Philipps, Amlin plc 0207 746 1000Richard Hextall, Amlin plc 0207 746 1000David Haggie, Haggie Financial Limited 0207 417 8989 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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