Simon Lee, RSA Group CEO comments on full year results :
“These are a solid set of results demonstrating strong progress in challenging market conditions. We’ve seen good growth in premiums up 5% to £8.4bn. Operating profits of £684m have been impacted by the Italian earthquakes, extreme wet weather in the UK in the first half of the year and falling bond yields.
“We are continuing to execute our strategy of global growth while maintaining profitability and underwriting quality. In 2012 over 65% of our premiums were from outside the UK and as we move more of the business towards higher growth and higher margin markets, we are optimistic about our future growth prospects.
“We are confident that we can deliver sustainable and ongoing improvements in the combined ratio and return on equity through management actions and we are not dependent on economic or market recovery to deliver these plans.
“We have leading market positions in Scandinavia, Canada, Latin America, Ireland and the UK. These are attractive general insurance markets where we are either already delivering or will deliver strong returns on capital. Where we do not see a route to achieve target returns on capital we will take decisive action.
“The Board’s decision to rebase the dividend is a prudent move that will enable us to invest in the opportunities we see for growth and is in the best interests of our shareholders. It is absolutely the right thing to do for the business given the prospect of prolonged low bond yields. The new dividend is appropriate for the business today, sustainable into the future and will allow a progressive dividend policy going forward.”
