Lloyd’s of London insurer Brit reported stronger nine-month sales and investment returns, and said insurance prices in the British market were set to keep rising.
London-listed Brit said it had gross written premiums of 1.3 billion pounds for the nine months to September 30, an increase of 4.7 percent at constant exchange rates compared with the same period last year.
The company, which in March announced plans to relocate to the Netherlands for tax purposes, said the improvement partly reflected a 4.8 percent rise in policy renewal prices, and predicted more price gains in the UK.
“The direction of the UK market is more clearly positive with further rate improvement undoubtedly required to address certain areas of inadequate pricing,” Brit Chief Executive Dane Douetil said.
Brit also benefited from a better investment performance, with total returns on its portfolio of 3.6 percent, compared with a loss of 0.4 percent a year earlier.
However, the company warned investment returns would be “muted” next year, blaming low yield levels on government debt and narrower credit spreads.
Brit shares were up 1.7 percent at 212.1 pence by 9:54 a.m., while the FTSE 250 share index was 0.6 percent higher.
“The investment return has been good. It all points towards decent growth,” said Noble Securities analyst Rakshit Ranjan.
Insurers were hit last year by a sharp fall in investment returns as the financial crisis weighed on equity and bond prices.
But most are expected to confirm that a financial market recovery has fed through into a stronger investment performance when they issue third quarter trading statements over the next two weeks.
With Reuters
