Ecclesiastical swings to half year loss on investment returns
Ecclesiastical Insurance has reported a pre-tax loss of £27.3m for the first half of the year compared to a profit of £46.5m in the same period of 2021.
The group’s swing back to a loss was driven by £79.8m of fair value losses in the investment portfolio (H1 2021: £34.3m gains) contributing to a net investment loss of £26.6m.
For the full year of 2021 Ecclesiastical delivered £77m of pre-tax profit having made a £15.7m loss in 2020.
In the first six months of 2022 gross written premiums were up 16% at £261.9m from £226.5m in the first half of 2021.
Underwriting profit also grew year-on-year, by 564%, to £16.6m.
UK & Ireland
In the UK and Ireland GWP also grew by 16% in the six months to 30 June to £165.5m.
“This has been driven by new business, particularly in real estate, and supported by strong retention and rate strengthening,” Ecclesiastical reported.
However, the combined operating ratio worsened from 81.5% in H1 2021 to 89.6%.
Underwriting profit also slipped coming in £6m lower at £9.3m.
Large weather-related losses early in the year were substantially offset by benign weather conditions in the second quarter, Ecclesiastical noted.
It detailed that the overall property result was only slightly behind expectations.
“Claims volume in our liability business have continued to be lower than pre-pandemic levels, whilst also benefiting from favourable prior year releases,” the insurer added.
Resilient
Commenting on the group results, Ecclesiastical CEO Mark Hews, pictured, said: “Whilst we report short term losses due to investment volatility, I’m pleased to report a resilient financial performance for the first half of 2022 from our core businesses.
“Our business model is focused on delivering long-term sustainable profits, which allows us to withstand short-term economic pressures, and we have continued to grow the business despite the challenging environment.”
Adding: “Our broker businesses also performed well, with SEIB reporting solid results with a half year profit before tax of £1.9m (H1 2021: £1.7m).”
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