-
Net written premiums of £8.1bn, up 9% (8% at constant exchange)
-
Underwriting result of £375m, up 58% and a combined operating ratio (COR) of 94.9%
-
Investment result of £642m, up 19% driven by gains following action to reduce equity exposure
-
Operating profit of £884m, up 38% and profit before tax of £613m, up 29%
-
IGD surplus of £1.3bn, coverage remains strong at 2.0 times
Continued strong operating performance in 2012 despite ongoing market and economic challenges
-
Expect to deliver good premium growth and a COR of better than 95%
-
Profitability will remain strong in Scandinavia, Canada and Ireland; driving improved UK underwriting performance; Italian remediation remains a priority
-
Investment income to be around £500m, reflecting the ongoing gap between maturing and reinvestment yields
Confident of delivering sustained outperformance at both local and Group level
-
Fundamental strengths unchanged; retain non-life bias with rigorous focus on underwriting discipline and control
-
Strong and diversified portfolio combines leading positions in competitive UK market, strong operations in Scandinavia and Canada, consistent outperformance in Ireland, and fast growing Emerging Markets
-
Overseas operations to constitute a greater share of Group premiums - current target is c70% by the end of 2015; now expect to be close to this in 2014 and move beyond 70% in subsequent years
-
Reposition UK as a more targeted and focused business, which delivers improved and sustained profitability M&A focus will be on bolt-on deals
Continued growth in dividend
-
Prudent to grow the dividend at more modest levels, reflecting the impact of low yields
-
Recommended final dividend up by 2% to 5.82p, full year dividend of 9.16p
-
Strongly placed to return to a higher level of dividend growth as market and economic conditions improve
Click on Link below to view the full release
|