SVB Holdings PLC today reported a rise in pre-tax profits to £11.1m for the first half of the year. This compares to profits of £1.6m for the same period last year.
The company said rate increases had contributed to the rise, and it expected this encouraging trend to continue into 2004 for its core product lines.
Director and former group chief executive Rupert Villers is to step down, effective today, and his fellow director Philip Whittaker is also leaving. The new members of the board will be Oliver Corbett and Sir Bryan Carsberg.
Chief Executive Matthew Fosh said: "Today's results show the progress we are making; our combined ratio is now in positive territory. We have returned to a position where our reserves in aggregate are developing favourably, and we have recorded a near tripling of our technical account balance."
Gross written premiums fell from £317.7m to £236.2m. The company put this down to withdrawing from liability reinsurance and marine excess of loss, along with a depreciation of the US dollar compared to June 2002. The combined ratio was 99.7%, compared to 106.5% last year.
SVB submitted plans to increase total managed capacity for 2004 to £502.4m, a 15% rise compared to the 2003 capacity of £437.4m.
