Stockwatch

TRADERS kept a close eye on Alea Group Holdings, ahead of the Bermuda-registered company's interims.

The insurer and reinsurer, which was trading at around 160p as Insurance Times went to press on Tuesday, has seen its share price slump since floating on the London Stock Exchange at 250p in November 2003.

Dealers were predicting Alea, which was due to announce its figures on Wednesday, would post a pre-tax profit of between $34m and $42.1m for the six months ended June 2005.

Stockbroker Bridgewell said: "We expect the numbers themselves will be overshadowed by questions on how the company is progressing with its fund-raising, which became necessary when AM Best indicated an unwillingness to maintain the company's credit rating."

Commenting on the active hurricane season, Bridgewell said it did not envisage looking to upgrade estimates of underwriting returns, despite recent bullish statements from several Lloyd's vehicles.

But the broker added: "Provided there is not a series of further storms of similar magnitude making landfall (as we saw last year), there will not be the need to downgrade the sector as a whole."

Hiscox was trading easier at 187.5p, Brit was at 90.25p and Chaucer hovered around 59p.

' Yvette Essen is stock market reporter and insurance correspondent for

The Daily Telegraph