Companies: HDU   

Insurer Hardy Underwriting Bermuda sees ‘significant’ premium rate increases after lifting nine-month written premiums ten per cent to £139 million.

In an interim management statement, the fully listed company says several factors are combining to create conditions for an end to the recent soft market in insurance. Hardy, chaired by market veteran chairman David Mann and steered by chief executive Barbara Merry, declares ‘we are now expectant of a significant increase in rates during 2009’.

The company argues insurers have escaped the worst of the current economic crisis, unless they have significant financial products division, suggesting ‘Hardy’s willingness to lose business rather than follow rates down gives us a margin to cope with these conditions’. Hardy, which reported a 4.4 per cent interim pre-tax profits slide to £8.7 million on gross written premiums up 11 per cent to £97 million, says estimated losses of $23 million (£15.5 million) from Hurricanes Ike and Gustav are ‘within our expectations for our catastrophe-exposed classes of business’.

The company is merging its Lloyd’s syndicates 382 and 38 Twenty and at present has unchanged underwriting capacity of £185 million for 2009. Mann proclaims the Hardy team is focusing on ‘making the most of what could be extremely beneficial market conditions’.

Hardy shares, which have fluctuated between 336.75p and 209p over the past year, now trade at 285p and could prove relatively resilient in the year ahead.

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Hardy Underwriting Bermuda	LSE	£108.26m	302.75p	14.75p
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Other company articles:
Hardy Underwriting Bermuda			21/11/2008
Hardy hails ‘improving outlook’			17/11/2008
Interim easing at Hardy			02/09/2008
New fields for Hardy			18/03/2008
First-half growth for Hardy			12/09/2007