Amlin posts 2011 loss as chairman prepares to exit
by Gill Montia
Story link: Amlin posts 2011 loss as chairman prepares to exit
Amlin has posted a pre-tax loss of £193.8 million for 2011, compared with a profit of £259.2 million a year earlier. Net catastrophe losses for 2011 amounted £500.8 million, having accelerated beyond the expected figure of £170 million. The re / insurer also saw a negative return on equity of 8.6% (2010: positive 13.9%) and [...]
FSA seeks compensation / causation change
by Gill Montia
Story link: FSA seeks compensation / causation change
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) wants to force the firms it regulates to provide 100% redress to customers who have suffered financial loss, even if the loss was not caused by faulty advice, warns Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC). The City law firm explains that as the law of “causation” stands, if a financial services firm [...]
Lloyd’s “well positioned” despite £697m loss
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyd’s “well positioned” despite £697m loss
Lloyd’s says it remains well positioned to handle the difficulties facing the insurance industry, despite posting a loss of £697 million for the six months to the end of June. Squaring up to what could be the second most expensive year on record for insurers, Lloyd’s chief executive, Richard Ward, says the first-half 2011 loss [...]
Royal London / Royal Liver merger costs 110 jobs
by Gill Montia
Story link: Royal London / Royal Liver merger costs 110 jobs
Following its takeover of Royal Liver in April, Royal London is proposing to integrate the group’s Liverpool operations into the existing Royal London structure, based at Wilmslow. The move will bring all asset management functions together but lead to the closure of the Liverpool office, with the loss of up to 222 jobs. However, 105 [...]
Hiscox post £86.5m first-half loss
by Gill Montia
Story link: Hiscox post £86.5m first-half loss
Hiscox has reported a pre-tax loss of £85.6 million for the first half of 2011, compared with a profit of £97.2 million a year earlier, following “a tumultuous first six months”. The specialist insurer recorded gross written premium of £847.5 million, down slightly from £904.3 million in the first half of 2010, although its UK [...]
Beazley posts $24.2m interim loss
by Gill Montia
Story link: Beazley posts $24.2m interim loss
Specialist insurer, Beazley, recorded a pre-tax loss of $24.2 million in the six months to the end of June, compared with a profit of $115.5 million in the same period of 2010. The firm saw gross written premiums fall by 1.7% in the first half, to $924.8 million, but with no rate change on renewal [...]
Omega posts $42.8 million loss
by Gill Montia
Story link: Omega posts $42.8 million loss
Bermuda-based insurer and reinsurer, Omega, has reported a loss of $42.8 million for 2010, compared with the previous year’s profit of $43.6 million. Gross premium income for the year stood at $356.1 million (2009: $265.8 million) but the firm suffered a loss ratio of 84.4%, compared with 49.3% in 2009. Omega points out that 86% [...]
UK bodily injury claims hit IAG profit
by Gill Montia
Story link: UK bodily injury claims hit IAG profit
In a trading update covering the six months to the end of December 2010, Insurance Australia Group (IAG) says it expects to report an insurance profit of $470 million (1H10: $488 million), representing an insurance margin of 12.7% (1H10: 13.4%). The group estimates gross written premium for the period at $3.9 billion, which equates to [...]
RSA reports 10% rise in NWP
by Gill Montia
Story link: RSA reports 10% rise in NWP
In an Interim Management Statement, RSA has reported net written premiums (NWP) of £5.53 billion for the nine months to 30th September 2010, an increase of 10% compared with the same period of 2009. International NWP increased 8%, (with emerging markets business leaping 19%) to £2.65 billion, and the UK saw a rise of 10%, [...]
AEGON progresses UK restructure
by Gill Montia
Story link: AEGON progresses UK restructure
AEGON has provided further details of the restructure of its UK business, first announced in June. The group aims to sharpen its focus on the At-Retirement and Workplace Savings markets and reduce operating costs by 25%. It has therefore decided to close its third party pension administration and its employee benefits software businesses but will [...]
Protect your bubble launches iPhone insurance
by Gill Montia
Story link: Protect your bubble launches iPhone insurance
Protect your bubble, which is an Assurant Direct brand, has launched a new iPhone policy and is claiming that the product costs less than half the price of iPhone insurance currently offered by some networks. At £5.99 a month, the policy includes worldwide cover for accidental damage (including water damage) and theft, plus mechanical breakdown [...]
Jelf reports £616k loss as revenues remain flat
by Gill Montia
Story link: Jelf reports £616k loss as revenues remain flat
Jelf Group has reported that revenues for the six months to the end of March 2010 were in line with a year earlier, at £34.9 million, with some organic growth at its wealth management and employee benefits units having offset a small decline in its insurance business. Operating profit came in at £997,000, compared with [...]
Zurich security breach affects 51,000 customers
by Gill Montia
Story link: Zurich security breach affects 51,000 customers
Zurich Insurance plc has announced that it has written to around 51,000 general insurance customers and other parties in the UK regarding the loss of a back-up data tape in South Africa. The tape, which also holds details of customers and other parties in South Africa and Botswana, was lost in August 2008 during a [...]
Helphire reports £149m loss
by David Masters
Story link: Helphire reports £149m loss
Helphire has posted a full-year pre-tax loss of £149 million for the 12 months to 30 June. Adjusted operating profit before tax fell 90% to £4.7 million, down from £55.4 million last year. The company, which supplies replacement vehicles to drivers whose cars are being repaired following an accident, blamed the loss on non-cash exceptional [...]
Private motor underwriting losses hit £1bn
by Gill Montia
Story link: Private motor underwriting losses hit £1bn
A leading research consultancy is challenging figures provided to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) by the UK’s private motor insurers. Watson Wyatt claims that the sector made a loss of £1 billion in 2008, more than double the amount reported to the regulator. The firm suggests that the £493 million loss reported last year was [...]
Brit blames loss on foreign exchange charge
by David Masters
Story link: Brit blames loss on foreign exchange charge
Brit Insurance posted a pre-tax loss of £8.7 million for the first half of 2009, down from a profit of £49.9 million in the year ago period. Net income plummeted to a £6.3 million loss, down from a £37.6 million profit in the first half of 2008. The Lloyds of London underwriter blamed the loss [...]
Novae announces bi-annual losses
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Novae announces bi-annual losses
Specialist insurance group Novae Group plc has reported its results for the first six months of the year including a pre-tax loss of £2.1m, compared to a £16.8m pre-tax profit made in the first half of 2008. The pre-tax loss occurred after a charge of aviation reinsurance and credit insurance claims worth £26m. Post-tax losses [...]
L&G considers investment arm sale
by David Masters
Story link: L&G considers investment arm sale
Legal & General (L&G) may sell off its investment arm in a bid to raise much needed capital, the Financial Times reports. Chief executive Tim Breedon is considering selling off L&G Investment Management (LGIM), which manages a fund of £260 billion. The report follows complaints by Breedon that the value of LGIM is not fully [...]
Jelf posts £0.4m six-month loss
by David Masters
Story link: Jelf posts £0.4m six-month loss
Financial consultant Jelf Group has posted an operating loss for the six months ending 31 March 2009, despite revenues increasing 40%. Revenues for the interim period grew to £35.0 million, up 40% compared to revenues of £25.0 million during the same period in 2008. However, the company reported an operating loss of £0.4 million, compared [...]
Berkshire Hathaway reports $1.5bn Q1 loss
by David Masters
Story link: Berkshire Hathaway reports $1.5bn Q1 loss
Berkshire Hathaway, the investment firm owned by US billionaire Warren Buffett, this week reported its first loss since 2001. The company posted a first quarter loss of $1.53 billion (£1 billion), compared to profit of $940 million in the year ago period. Revenues dropped 9.5% on year to $22.8 billion. However, of its four key [...]
