Trading Statement

Amlin PLC 09 January 2004 Press Release 9 January 2004 AMLIN PLC Satisfactory January renewal season Continued low level of loss incidence Positive Outlook Amlin, the leading Lloyd's insurer, has released the following statement on trading conditions. Current trading A number of influences remain on the global insurance industry which support the continued requirement for underwriting discipline. There is market expectation that reserving issues will continue to emerge for legacy casualty business and this, combined with low bond yields and downgrades from credit rating agencies, should focus insurance operations on producing a strong underwriting return to deliver satisfactory performance for capital providers. Against this background, we were pleased to note that Lloyd's 2004 capacity has remained at the same level as 2003 and, with the reduction in quota share facilities placed, overall capacity is lower. As previously announced, in order to focus on margin rather than volume, Amlin has held Syndicate 2001's capacity at £1 billion for 2004 and has not renewed the £100 million quota share facility at this point. However the group's share of the syndicate has increased from 84% to 100% from 2003 to 2004 as third party capital providers will no longer participate on the syndicate following the acquisition of capacity completed during 2002. 1 January represents a major renewal period for a number of key classes of business underwritten by Syndicate 2001. Whilst there are signs of greater competition, the renewal rates achieved by the syndicate, particularly for property and property reinsurance business, were satisfactory with only modest reductions in rating levels from those prevailing in 2003. A number of marine, non-airline aviation and liability classes continue to see improvement in rating levels. 1 January is also the principal date for the placement of Syndicate 2001's reinsurance programme. Placement of the programme was in line with our expectations although the retrocessional reinsurance market remained firm. This is encouraging in the light of the comments on the industry environment noted above. Loss activity In the interim report we noted that loss incidence for property, property reinsurance and airlines had been extraordinarily low in the first half of the year. This continued in the second half of 2003. A number of natural catastrophes have led to losses to the syndicate but these are well within our planned expectations. Good underwriting margins combined with this low level of major loss incidence to date continue to make the 2002 and 2003 years two of the best underwriting years the syndicate has experienced. The results of these years will be mostly recognised in Amlin's consolidated profit and loss account in the years ending 31 December 2003 and 2004 respectively. Currency With 55% of the 2004 premium income of Syndicate 2001 estimated receivable in US dollars, the recent US dollar weakening will affect the future outlook. However Amlin has maintained a policy of selling Syndicate dollar profits. By 31 December 2003, Amlin had sold approximately $186 million of anticipated Syndicate dollar profits from its 2001 and 2002 years of account at an average exchange rate of 1.62. Investment portfolio During the second half of the year the structure of the £200 million investment portfolio supporting the group's underwriting was significantly adjusted. The remaining long duration bonds held by the group were sold at the start of July with assets transferred to an investment mandate with a cash benchmark. Taube Hodson Stonex was appointed to manage an active global equity portfolio for the group. By the end of September, £40 million was transferred to their management, increasing to £50 million in October. These changes have proven to be beneficial to our performance relative to the previous asset allocation. Syndicate funds have also continued to show strong growth with investable assets increasing to over £1 billion by 31 December 2003. These funds continue to be invested in short duration bonds in line with our strategic position of matching asset and liability duration. Performance has not matched the first half year but has been satisfactory nonetheless against a backdrop of increased volatility in these markets. Preliminary results The Company intends to announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2003 on 11 March 2004. Charles Philipps, Chief Executive, stated: 'The second half of 2003 has gone very well for Amlin and the strength of the recent renewal season supports our previously stated view that the outlook for 2004 is very good.' Contact Charles Philipps, Amlin plc 020 7746 1000 Richard Hextall, Amlin plc 020 7746 1000 David Haggie, Haggie Financial 020 7417 8989 Peter Rigby, Haggie Financial 020 7417 8989 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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