It came after RSA announced its exit from the UK personal lines motor insurance market
RSA Insurance has reported £9m loss for the first half of 2023 following a drop in profit before tax and net written premiums.
In a trading update published last week (4 August 2023), the insurer revealed it secured a profit before tax of £55m for the six months to 30 June 2023, compared to £224m in the same period during 2022.
Net written premiums also fell from £1.56bn to £1.38bn year-on-year.
In turn, the insurer reported a £9m unaudited loss in H1 2023, when it had been a £192m profit in the same reporting period during the previous year.
This came after RSA announced its exit from the UK personal lines motor insurance market earlier this year (28 March 2023).
The Intact Financial Corporation-owned insurer said in that it had decided to make the move after conducting a “thorough review” of its business.
The insurer said its profit before tax had been impacted by the derecognition of £34m of software assets in relation to the withdrawal.
Plans
When RSA announced it would be leaving the UK personal lines motor insurance market, the business believed it would represent the loss of around £120m of annual premium for the firm.
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RSA added that it expected around £35m of restructuring costs in Q1 2023, mostly related to one-time writeoff intangibles.
However, while RSA’s figures took a hit in H1 2023, underwriting profit remained stable at £82m, which was just £4m less than what the insurer posted in the same period last year.
And as of 30 June 2023, net assets amounted to £2.21bn.
After leaving the UK personal lines motor insurance market, the insurer said it would now focus on optimising its position in home and pet lines by improving segmentation and focusing on growth in the direct business and managing partnerships.
”We also intend to drive cost improvements by leveraging ongoing investments in technology and through further simplification of the business,” a statement said.
“With these actions, as well as the exit from the UK personal lines motor market, we expect muted top line growth as we accelerate our path to deliver a low 90s combined ratio for the UK and Ireland.”
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