16 February 2017Insurance

Lancashire Holdings' profits fall in 'turbulent' 2016

Specialty re/insurance provider Lancashire Holdings has called 2016 a difficult year, with net operating profits falling 17 percent compared to 2015.

The company announced that its net operating profit for 2016 came to $144 million, compared to $173.4 million in 2015.

In addition, Lancashire saw its gross written premiums for the year dip slightly, going from $641.1 million in 2015 to $633.9 million in 2016.

The company also saw its combined ratio rise from 72.1 percent in 2015 to 76.5 percent in 2016.

Alex Maloney, Group CEO of Lancashire, said: "The 2016 year proved a turbulent one for the global political and macroeconomic environment and the insurance market remained very challenging."

"Risk capital remains abundant, and there is continuing pressure upon pricing and terms and conditions. Against this background I am particularly pleased with the results for both the fourth quarter and the full year. The RoE (return on equity) of 2.8 percent for the quarter and 13.5 percent for the year is an exceptional outcome in this environment and a tribute to the dedication and hard work of everyone across the business.

"As I have stressed previously, we have maintained a tight focus on skilful and disciplined underwriting and overall risk management. Our principal focus has been to balance risk and return whilst serving the needs of our clients and their brokers. These results prove that, even in the current difficult times, we have relevance, our model works and is resilient. At 1 January, in line with our expectations and previous communication, we successfully renewed our core book across the Group, including at our Lloyd’s platform.

"Whilst we expect market conditions to remain difficult for the foreseeable future, which requires discipline and patience to navigate, our strategy has the ability to respond across the insurance cycle. We are well equipped to meet the needs of our clients and to generate acceptable returns for investors, whilst having the flexibility to capitalise quickly on new opportunities as they arise," Maloney noted.

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More on this story

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14 March 2017   The re/insurance markets remain cyclical, with the industry operating on the very margins of profitability, a big catastrophic loss would adjust the balance of capital and underwriting opportunity, Alex Maloney, group chief executive of Lancashire, said in the company’s annual report.
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27 July 2017   Lancashire Holdings has announced that it made a net operating profit of $30.9 million over the second quarter of 2017, an improvement over the $25.6 million it made in the same period of 2016.
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1 September 2017   Specialty re/insurance provider Lancashire Holdings has filled up key vacancies with three senior underwriting promotions from within.