Commercial lines underwriting specialist Arista Insurance marked five years in business with another successful set of results. Arista recorded an EBITDA profit of £1.334m during 2011, which rose from £683,000 in 2010, and, for the first time, achieved a trading profit before the further welcome benefit of underwriting profit sharing arrangements.
The full year figures, released today, confirmed Arista’s profitability for the second successive year with an increase in gross written premiums of £7m to £74m, while turnover improved by almost £1.5m. The figures also demonstrate the effort invested in renewal business with renewal income as a percentage of GWP rising to 72% in 2011.
These figures record an improvement right across the business. They were achieved while continuing to invest in resources across all Arista’s regional offices in order to support its 370 select broker partners and by focusing on achieving a prompt return on that investment.
The results are in line with the expectations of chief executive Charles Earle who commented: “2011 marked Arista’s fifth year of trading, and saw the company achieve a profit for the second consecutive year. The improvement is the result of the hard work of Arista people as we continue on our journey to achieving market leading performance for all our stakeholders.
Despite challenging underwriting market conditions in 2011 we have achieved this success while maintaining underwriting discipline and control and delivering a service that is valued by our select panel of broker customers. There is still much more we intend to do and opportunity for that improvement is recognised within our plans. In 2011 we have continued moving steadily in the right direction.
The UK SME insurance market remains a challenging underwriting and pricing environment and success requires the maintenance of our strong and insightful discipline around pricing, risk acceptance and portfolio management. Arista’s experienced and committed teams are equal to that challenge and our progress demonstrates the demand among independent brokers for high service and focused alternatives to the large insurers
With this performance, Arista modestly exceeded its 2011 targets and is well on its way towards the previously announced 2014 target of £120 million GWP.”
