Disposals boost profits at RSA
Profits at RSA were boosted by gains from disposals in the first quarter of 2015, the company said, while group premium income also improved on the back of its restructuring programme.
Disposals in Singapore and Hong Kong generated a gain on sale £109 million for the business while it also announced disposals of minority interest in India and its UK Engineering Inspection business.
Its core group net written premiums of increased by 1 percent to £1.5 billion but the company said this growth would have been 5 percent if a new reinsurance programme was excluded form the figures.
“RSA made encouraging progress in Q1. Premium income returned to modest growth. Costs are falling as planned. Disposals were completed in Asia and others were contracted in India and for UK Engineering Inspection,” said Stephen Hester, the chief executive of RSA Group.
“Operating profit and underwriting performance were up on Q1 2014 though variable across different parts of the group as can be expected in any single quarter. In particular our UK business results are gaining strength.
“Our near-term ambition is to have substantially completed the strategic focus and capital elements of our restructuring plan as we go into next year; to deliver improved underlying results in 2015 and to be making good progress towards our medium term performance targets.
“Lower interest rates and currency moves in our key territories continue to have adverse impacts, whilst insurance markets remain competitive. The path to high quality outperformance will not be smooth or easy, but our focus on that goal is clear."
The company said the insurance markets continue to be “competitive but navigable”. It said that pricing has held up well in Scandinavia where conditions remain relatively stable. In Canada, conditions are mixed with market hardening in personal household offset by weaker conditions elsewhere. In the UK, pricing conditions remain soft across all major lines.
