Amlin H1 profits down 26%

by David Masters

Story link: Amlin H1 profits down 26%

Lloyd’s of London insurer Amlin has posted its results for the first half of 2008 with pretax profit down 26% on year.

Pretax profit for the 6 months ending 30th June was £137.3 million, compared to £185 million for the same period in 2007.

Net income for the period was £108.1 million, or 22.5p per share, down from £148.6 million in the first six months of 2007.

Gross written premiums also fell to £715.5 million, compared to £805.2 million a year earlier.

Combined operating ratio was 67%, an improvement on 71% for the first half of 2007.

Difficult times in the financial market hit Amlin’s investment income which fell 66% on year to £22.5 million.

Amlin’s underwriting business, however, remained as profitable as last year with profits of £148.7 million.

£59.9 million released from unneeded reserves to pay claims boosted the company’s underlying profit.

Despite the fall in profit, Amlin exceeded the expectations of even the most optimistic analysts.

CEO Charles Phillips said the ‘real message’ from the results is not a business in decline, but a company with ‘very strong underwriting returns’.

He added that the fall in profit should be attributed to the current state of the ‘investment climate’.

Amlin will pay shareholders an interim dividend of 6p per share, 1p more than last year.