Chaucer's pre-tax profit has fallen by 64% from £33m in 2004 to £11.9m in 2005. The Lloyd's insurer's gross written premiums increased by 23.8% to £484.2m, and net earned premiums were up by 12.8% to £324m.
Chaucer's combined ratio deteriorated from 88.8% to 101.5%. A final dividend of 2.05p has been proposed, making a total dividend for the year of 3.05p.
Ewen Gilmour, Chaucer's chief executive, commented: “To deliver a profit and an increased dividend in a year which saw three of the ten largest catastrophe losses of all time is testimony to the diversity of our business and to the talent of our underwriting teams.
“An extremely difficult 2005 has led to very good trading conditions for 2006 and we look forward with great confidence.”
