Financial Ratings – Page 86
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NewsGable 2015 loss estimate widens to between £13m and £14m
Gable has warned that its 2015 loss will be £6m worse than previously estimated because it will receive a lower payout under an insurance policy than it had expected. The news comes as the unrated insurer is mulling a sale after admitting that it cannot raise ...
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NewsGable mulls sale as raising enough Solvency II funds 'not possible'
Gable has launched a full strategic review of its business after determining that it is “not possible” to raise the additional capital it needs to comply fully with Solvency II in its current form. The company said in a trading update: “Solvency II appears to be ...
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NewsBrokers and insurers warned of soft market perils amid Gable crisis
Insurers and brokers today received a stark warning about the perils of current market conditions as crisis-hit Gable revealed further losses and that it doesn’t have the money to meet Solvency II. Brokerbility chairman Ashwin Mistry said: “This is beyond unrated insurers. The soft market is ...
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NewsCrisis-hit Gable suffers 23% share price crash
Gable’s share price crashed 23% following the annoucement that it can’t raise the money to hit Solvency 2 requirements and revelations of further losses in the business. The crisis-hit insurer’s share price fell from 8.5p to 6.91p. The company said in a trading update: ...
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NewsMotor insurers' COR hits 102% despite premium increase
Motor insurers’ combined operating ratio (COR) was 102% in 2015 according to figures released by Deloitte. The firm forecasts the COR could rise to 104% in 2016 before returning to 102% in 2017. Motor insurance premiums in 2015 grew by 5% to £13.9bn in 2015. But ...
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NewsHomeServe UK unit reports revenue growth but flat profit
HomeServe’s UK business made an operating profit of £57.4m in the year to 31 March 2016, almost unchanged from the £57.7m it reported in its previous financial year. This was despite revenue growth in the unit of 2.2% to £291.8m (2014/15: £285.5m). Key points ...
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NewsAXA to sell all tobacco investments
AXA Group said it will shed all its €1.8bn investments in tobacco. The global insurer said continued investment in tobacco was no longer compatible with its business as a provider of health insurance. “As a responsible health insurer, the AXA Group has decided to divest its ...
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NewsAgeas pledges to support Brightside after Markerstudy exit
Ageas UK will aim to continue supporting Brightside after fellow major capacity provider Markerstudy decided to cancel its agency with the broking group, chief executive Andy Watson said. Brightside has a range of capacity providers, but Ageas and Markerstudy are its biggest supporters. Speaking to Insurance ...
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NewsAgeas UK Q1 profit higher, driven by motor
Ageas UK reported a sharp rise in first quarter profit and an improvement in its combined operating ratio, driven by a favourable motor performance. Net profit rose 59% to £19.0m from £12m from a year earlier, while the UK business’s COR improved to 99.0% from 99.7%. ...
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NewsHastings and Esure to win market share by 'aggressive undercutting'
Market share between motor insurers Hastings and Esure will only be won by aggressive undercutting of the opposition, according to a research note by investment bank Macquarie. With two quarters of rising prices behind them in the second half of 2015, both Esure and Hastings have ...
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NewsActivist Icahn raises AIG stake to 4%
Activist investor Carl Icahn has raised his stake in AIG to 4%, putting further pressure on the insurer’s board to heed his radical agenda. Icahn raised his holding in the company by one-fifth and now owns 44.4 million shares in AIG, according to regulatory filings. ...
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NewsAllianz’s Dye: AGF run-off sale will free up resources
Allianz’s recent sale of a book of UK run-off employers’ liability business will free up resources that can be deployed elsewhere, according to Allianz UK chief executive Jon Dye. It emerged in March that Allianz had agreed to sell subsidiary AGF Holdings (UK), which went into ...
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NewsRyan Direct Group extends contract with Close Brothers
Ryan Direct Group (RDG) has extended its contract with Close Brothers Premium Finance for a further three years. Under the deal Close Brothers will continue to be the exclusive premium finance provider for RDG’s SME and motor books. RDG chief executive Derek Coles said the agreement ...
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NewsAllianz UK reports 89.9% commercial COR but 101.2% in personal
Allianz UK reported a commercial lines combined operating ratio (COR) of 89.9% for the first quarter of 2016, which chief executive Jon Dye hailed as the unit’s “most profitable quarter for some years.” The commercial lines COR was a 6.9 percentage point improvement over the 96.8% ...
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NewsMacquarie downgrades RSA stock over pension risk
Investment bank Macquarie has downgraded its rating on RSA’s shares to ‘underperform’ from ‘neutral’ because of the risk from the insurer’s pension scheme. In a research note, the bank also warned that it expects RSA’s UK commercial business to face pricing pressure. Macquarie has downgraded its ...
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NewsLark buys marine broker Euromarine
Broking group Lark has bought Kent-based marine broker and underwriting agency Euromarine Insurance Services for an undisclosed sum. Following the deal, Lark will have annual revenues of over £28.5 million and employ 350 staff in eight offices across London, the South East and East Anglia. All ...
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NewsResults show Zurich ‘is not broken’ – analyst
Zurich’s first quarter results show that the Swiss insurance group “is not broken”, according to a research note by Macquarie analyst Andy Hughes. Yesterday Zurich reported a group profit of $875m (£605m) and a general insurance operating profit of $542m for the first quarter of 2016. ...
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NewsPwC warns of weak casualty reserves in London market
Casualty claims reserves being set by London market (re)insurers for business written in 2015 are weaker than in previous years, according to a review by accounting firm PwC. The review found that London market (re)insurance casualty reserves are, on average, 3% weaker than for business written ...
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NewsZurich UK GI profit falls 51%
Zurich’s UK general insurance (GI) business made an operating profit of £23m in the first quarter of 2016, down 51% on the £47m profit it made in last year’s first quarter. The division’s combined operating ratio (COR) deteriorated by 6.2 percentage points to 99.7% (Q1 2015: ...
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NewsHood Group predicts ‘rapid growth’ following Clydesdale refinancing
Affinity insurance broker Hood Group says it is set for a period of “rapid growth” after completing refinancing with Clydesdale bank. The company said that the refinancing will allow it to continue with its growth plans, which could include acquisitions. Hood Group picked Clydesdale following a ...
