Company results
Further growth at Be Wiser
Be Wiser Insurance Services has announced a sharp rise in gross premium income to £52.3m from £23.5m in 2010.
Profits fall at Oxygen
Oxygen Insurance has reported a fall in profits to £95,229 for the year ended 31 December 2010, a dramatic reduction from £707,398 the previous year.
Brightside splits management roles
Brightside Group has decided to split the roles of chief executive officer and finance director citing the “interests of good governance”.
Acquisitions an option for Jelf
Group chief executive at Jelf, Alex Alway, has confirmed the consolidator remains in the market for acquisitions but only at the right price.
Revenue flat as Jelf moves into profit
Jelf has announced a profit before tax of £0.8m in its interim results for the six months ended 31 March 2011 reversing its loss of £1.2m in 2010.
Brokers unconvinved by signs of market hardening
Lone suggestion that the commercial market could be on the cusp of changing is dismissed by rest of market.
Quinn losses reached €888m in 2009
Quinn Insurance lost €644m (£557m) in 2009, it has been revealed taking the overall group’s losses for the year to €888m.
Barbon delivers over £11m profit in second year of growth
Barbon Insurance Group recorded a pre-tax profit of over £11m based on a 4% increase in turnover in 2010, its second successive year of growth.
Ageas sees no sign of commercial hardening
Barry Smith, chief executive of Ageas UK, told Insurance Age he had seen no signs of commercial market hardening and indicated that he was not anticipating it happening soon.
Ageas returns to profit despite 104.6% COR
Ageas Insurance has revealed profit before tax of £3.9m for the first quarter of 2011, a £9.2m improvement over the equivalent quarter in 2010.
Aviva makes aggregator u-turn
Aviva has confirmed it intends to return to the aggregator space for private motor with a new, separately branded internet-only offering.
Aviva chief hints that market may finally be hardening
The UK could be seeing the first evidence of market hardening in commercial lines, according to Mark Hodges, chief executive of Aviva UK although he declined to predict whether any increase would hold or how far it would go.
Aviva posts improved COR in first quarter 2011 results
Aviva has revealed a 20% increase in general insurance premiums to over £1bn for the first quarter of 2011 (1Q2010: £913m).
Allianz chief hails broker book but laments state of commercial market
Allianz UK CEO, Andrew Torrance, hailed the performance of the insurer’s broker retail book but lamented the continued soft condition of the commercial market as he revealed the insurer's financial performance for the first three months of 2011.
RSA UK growth offset by motor scheme pull out
RSA’s Q1 results have shown an overall rise in UK premiums of 9% to £760m (2010: £697m).
Giles loses £37m
Giles has revealed a loss of £37,113,000 for the financial year ended 31 August 2010 in documents released to Companies House.
Hiscox sees Dual deal drive growth in the UK
Hiscox has reported an overall 8% drop in GWP to £453.5m (2010: £504.1 m) in its 2011 Q1 results but more positive news came out of its UK operation.
Admiral on track to meet profit estimates
Admiral Group’s group turnover for Q1 2011 has increased by 56% to £539m but Confused.com’s turnover remained flat with the insurer citing continued pressure on margins.
Axa's UK commercial motor revenues jump by 21%
Axa’s results for Q1 2011 have shown a 2% drop in total revenues to €28bn (£25.2bn) from the same period last year.
Willis' net income for Q1 2011 drops by £103m
Willis Group Holdings first quarter results for 2011 have revealed a reported net income of $34m (£20.6m), or $0.20 per diluted share, compared with $204m, or $1.20 per diluted share, in the same period a year ago.
Towergate reports £14m loss
Towergate has announced it halved its group losses in 2010 to £14.2m from £28m in 2009 and reduced net debt over the course of the year by £16.2m to £463.8m.
Schemes: Ecclesiastical and CBG see specialism as their future
Poor results have led both an insurer and broker to seek solace in the schemes market.
Personal lines exits highlight need to avoid reliance on single insurer
Reduced insurer appetite in the personal lines market should serve as a timely reminder to brokers to avoid the pitfalls of placing all their eggs in one basket.
LV reports switch from loss to profit in 2010
LV has revealed a reversal of 2009’s £172.2m after tax loss to a profit of £21.3m in 2010 as it published its full year group results.