Lancashire Holdings' gross written premiums, underwriting profits grow YTD

Insurance firm Lancashire Holdings said on Wednesday that gross premiums written, underwriting profits and pre-tax profits had all grown in the six months ended 30 June.

Lancashire reported a 34.6% improvement in gross written premiums to $938.1m, 29.4% growth in underwriting profits to $164.5, and a 44.1% surge in pre-tax profits to $78.0m, with the group continuing to see "attractive rate increases" across a number of business lines and a renewal price index of 106% for the half.

However, Lancashire also said it had swung to a comprehensive loss of $7.1m, a marked turnaround when compared to the prior year's income of $33.6m, and delivered a total net investment return of -3.8%, primarily driven by unrealised losses.

While Lancashire cautioned that broader macro-economic issues were impacting the outlook for the global economy, it also said it believes that "the strong rate environment" for many of its products was the best it has seen for "more than a decade", something it expects to continue through the second half of 2022 and into 2023 - including risk-adjusted rate rises and "attractive opportunities" across lines impacted by the conflict in Ukraine.

As of 0950 BST, Lancashire shares were up 1.82% at 435.20p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com