BRIT launched a £202.4m rights issue in the same week that it entered the FTSE 250.
The group will plough at least £80m of the cash call's proceeds into business outside Lloyd's.
And about the s ...
BRIT launched a £202.4m rights issue in the same week that it entered the FTSE 250.
The group will plough at least £80m of the cash call's proceeds into business outside Lloyd's.
And about the same amount will be used to support its underwriting at the world's oldest insurance market.
Some group accounts will be moved from Lloyd's to Brit Insurance, the group's non-Lloyd's company.
The rest of the money will support new underwriting.
The placing and open offer has been fully underwritten by Collins Stewart and Numis Securities.
The group hopes to make the most of current underwriting conditions.
It has plans to underwrite gross premium income of about £1bn in 2003, of which £850m will be on the group's own account.
It is targeting small to medium commercial business and wholesale business, written mainly through the London Market.
Brit made the announcement at the same time as its results for the six months to the end of June.
They show gross written premium increased by 94% to £397.2m from £204.6m last year.
The group's combined ratio improved to 90.2% from 96% in the same period last year, but the operating profit fell to £3m from £7.8m the time before.
The open offer is priced at 64p and gives two new shares for every three existing shares held.
