Shares in property and casualty insurer were down 4.6 per cent today
Shares in property and casualty insurer Lancashire Holdings were down 4.6 per cent today after it reported a pre-tax loss of $72.9m for the year ending December last year— after recording a pre-tax profit of $150.4m in the same period in 2016.
The specialist insurer, which writes policies for heavy-duty assets such as oil rigs, ships and aircraft, blamed the result to natural disasters like hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, and earthquakes in Mexico.
Warning that 2018 would be another challenging year for the industry, CEO Alex Maloney stated: “I expect 2018 to be another challenging year for our industry, but I am confident … that the Lancashire Group has the appropriate business model, talent and access to capital to maximise underwriting opportunities to benefit our shareholders. Lancashire recorded a net loss from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, and earthquakes in Mexico, of $165 million, which it called an “extraordinary level of loss activity”.
Lanchashire significantly slashed its dividend this year to $0.10 per share from $0.90 in 2016. The group’s gross written premiums fell about 6.7 per cent to $591.6m in the period, and its combined ratio deteriorated to 124.9 per cent.
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