Hardy exceeds expectations

Bermuda-based specialist insurer and reinsurer Hardy said results for the full year would be ahead of market expectations with GWP in excess of £170m and profits before tax will not less than £22m.

It said its property treaty, aviation and marine accounts all performed strongly and the Group particularly benefited from the strengthening of the major currencies against sterling.

It cut its estimate for losses arising from hurricanes Gustav and Ike from $23m to $17.6m.

It said: “A combination of significant factors including the global financial crisis, the impact of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, increased levels of attritional losses and a low interest rate environment have resulted in the deterioration of insurance company balance sheets and the reduction of capital in the insurance industry. This has resulted in a much hoped-for hardening of rates earlier than was anticipated.

As at 1 January 2009, a major renewal date for a number of the Group's classes of business, the Group had written total premium income (before deduction of commissions and brokerage) of £69.1m, a 41.6% increase on the prior year. Overall renewal rates for the Group have increased by 5.2%.

By business unit this meant:

• Marine & Aviation down from £16.7m £14.4m
• Non-marine property up from £6.4m to £21.7m
• Speciality lines down from £4.7m to £4.5m
• Treaty up from £21.0m to £28.5m

The company said: “The overall volume increase includes the 1 January inception of business in the high net worth homeowners account, which was acquired last year. We have also seen further significant development of the property treaty portfolio, notwithstanding the deliberate policy of holding back a proportion of our capacity in response to further hardening of rates, terms and conditions, which the Board anticipates across most classes of business during the year and into 2010.”