Aspen swings to $37.3m loss in first half of 2019

Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance Holdings suffered a net loss of $37.3 million in the first half of 2019, dropping from a net income of $16.1 million it made in the same period last year.

The re/insurer's gross written premiums (GWP) decreased by 5.9 percent to $1.85 billion in the six months ended June 30, 2019, compared with $1.97 billion in the first half of 2018. GWP in the insurance and reinsurance segments decreased by 4.7 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively.

Overall, Aspen posted a combined ratio of 104.4 percent in H1 2019, compared with 97.7 percent last year.

Mark Cloutier, who took over as the chief executive officer of Aspen in February 2019, said: “We continue to see improvement in our underwriting performance as a result of our focus on underwriting discipline and active management of the underwriting portfolio, which have been underpinned by improving market conditions. We have seen good results across both our insurance and reinsurance businesses and we are particularly encouraged by the strong improvement in the ex-cat accident year loss ratio from our continuing insurance lines at 55.4% compared to 64.5% from our total insurance book during the six months ended June 30, 2018.

“While we are seeing rate and terms improving in some classes, particularly where there has been substantial withdrawal of capacity, we will continue to approach a number of the specialty classes cautiously as evidenced in the 5.9% reduction in gross written premium year on year.

“In my short period of time with Aspen I have come to appreciate the depth of talent and experience in the group and firmly believe we can show the right combination of entrepreneurialism and discipline the current market conditions and trends demand of us in order to build a successful business into the future.”

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