Brit Insurance Holdings made a £9.9m profit before tax after increasing gross written premiums by 77% to £662.7m last year.
It lost £114,465 last year, on GWP of £374m. The group projected to burst through the billion pound barrier of gross premium income this year, expecting to achieve £1.05bn.
Basic earnings per share increased to 1.1p in 2002 from a loss of 34.02p the year before. The combined ratio for Brit's share of its underwriting improved to 88.6% from 154.1% the year before.
Its managed Lloyd's syndicates achieved a combined ratio of 92.3% and its FSA-regulated company achieved a combined ratio of 71.9%.
Chief executive Neil Eckert said up to £250m of new business - in property, fleet motor, commercial liability, employers' liability, professional indemnity and directors' and officers' cover - would be written through the insurance company rather than Lloyd's.
If Brit's succeeds in buying specialist liability insurer PRI, it would take the balance of Brit's business to about 75:25 in favour of Lloyd's and give the company its own critical mass, Eckert said.
Brit took a £4.2m loss for its telesales distribution business People's Choice, which lost 20,000 policies during the year to 130,000 from 150,000.
Eckert said: "Either we will mend it or do something about it."
Hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen, 34 Gold, 23 Silver and 22 Bronze awards were handed out across an amazing 34 categories recognising brilliance and innovation right across the breadth of UK general insurance.
