Lancashire posts rise in gross premiums written

Insurer Lancashire Holdings reported a rise in gross premiums written on Thursday as it hailed a "strong" balance sheet and "robust" capital position, and said that loss estimates from hurricane Ian were in line with expectations.

In the nine months to 30 September, gross premiums written rose 34.3% on the year to $1.3bn, mostly thanks to growth in the property and casualty reinsurance segment. This was mainly due to new business in the casualty reinsurance and financial lines classes of business as well as the continued strong RPI for this segment of 108%, which is driven by the continued hardening in property reinsurance classes, Lancashire said.

The company said net loss estimates from hurricane Ian were between $160m and $190m. Consensus expectations are for losses of $174m.

Lancashire reported a total net investment return of negative 5%, primarily driven by unrealised losses.

Chief executive Alex Maloney said: "During 2022, Lancashire has continued to grow and diversify its underwriting portfolio and deliver on its underwriting strategy. This has been fuelled by solid rate increases and strong market conditions which has given us additional resilience.

"We expect the broader positive conditions to continue into 2023 and our strategy is to take advantage of attractive market opportunities. We believe we could see significant increases in rates and improving terms and conditions due to recent events and the fact that capacity had already been tightened in the wider market."

Maloney said the company was well-placed to manage inflationary pressures and that inflation will also present further opportunities for the group as clients look to purchase additional cover.

"Even allowing for the impact of hurricane Ian, and unrealised investment losses, our capital position remains strong and we will drive forward with our growth strategy and capitalise on the strong rate environment through our diversified product portfolio," he said.