Lancashire Q1 premiums down 23%
Lancashire Holdings has posted its results for the three months ending 31 March 2009, with premium income down by almost a quarter.
Gross written premiums for the Bermuda-based insurer dropped 23% on year to $142.8 million, down from $186.7 million.
Pre-tax profits fell 53% to $41.0 million, down from $86.4 million in the year ago period.
Profit after tax was £40.7 million, or $0.22 per share, compared to $84.6 million, or $0.45 per share for the same period the previous year.
Combined ratio worsened significantly to 81.2%, up from 61.2% in first quarter 2008.
Despite the drop in income, the company remained upbeat and said the market has become ‘extremely active’ since the end of the first quarter.
“Lancashire’s key markets are experiencing a hardening in rates and terms,” the firm said.
“This has been gathering pace as the year has progressed and should continue to do so in the months to come.”
Chief executive Richard Brindle said Q1 had been a ‘reasonable quarter’.
“Our results were impacted by the previously announced reserve strengthening for Hurricane Ike, but our underlying earnings performance was strong,” Brindle said.
“We have been patiently holding back capacity in several classes, waiting for the most opportune time to deploy our capital.”
Category: Financials, Insurance News
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