Acquisition

RNS Number : 6866E

Helios Underwriting Plc

12 February 2015

 

12 February 2015

Helios Underwriting plc

("HUW" or the "Company")

Acquisition of Lloyd's Limited Liability Vehicle

HUW is pleased to announce that, in line with its strategy of increasing underwriting capacity through acquisition, it has agreed to acquire Nameco (No 402) Limited, a limited liability member of Lloyd's ("LLV") for a total consideration of £0.8 million in cash.  The 2015 underwriting capacity of the LLV is £0.8 million; this compares with HUW's 2015 capacity of £21.4 million prior to this acquisition.  Completion is subject to change of control consent from Lloyd's.  The LLV participates in a spread of Lloyd's syndicates broadly similar to HUW's own participation.

Commenting upon the acquisition, Nigel Hanbury, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, said:

"We are delighted to have agreed a further LLV acquisition which will further increase our underwriting capacity.  This is in line with our stated strategy of acquiring corporate members as suitable opportunities arise.  We continue to believe that there remain significant opportunities for further growth available to the Company."

For further information please contact:

HUW Nigel Hanbury - Chief Executive	020 7863 6655 / [e-mail]
Smith & Williamson Corporate Finance David Jones	020 7131 4000
Westhouse Securities Robert Finlay	020 7601 6100

About HUW

HUW provides a limited liability direct investment into the Lloyd's insurance market and is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market (ticker: HUW).  HUW's subsidiary underwriting vehicles trade within the Lloyd's insurance market as corporate members of Lloyd's writing approximately £21 million of capacity for the 2014 account.  The portfolio provides a good spread of classes of business being concentrated in property insurance and reinsurance. For further information please visit www.huwplc.com.

Additional information

Nameco (No 402) Limited ("Nameco 402") is a limited liability member of Lloyd's which HUW has agreed to acquire from Jonathan Bean; in the year ended 31 December 2013, Nameco 402 made a profit before tax of £0.1 million on gross premiums written of £0.7 million.  Nameco 402's expected net asset value at completion is approximately £0.9 million, including underwriting capacity with an estimated market value of £0.3 million.

Set out below are Nameco 402's 2012 and 2013 open years of account forecasts:

YOA	Nameco 402 syndicate capacity (£'000)	Forecast of syndicate profit (30 September 2014)
		Mid point (£'000)	Mid point (%)	Range (%)
2012	819	106	12.98%	9.72 - 16.23%
2013	825	77	9.29%	4.97 - 13.60%

Source: Syndicate data and HUW analysis (before early release)

Set out below are details of Nameco 402's syndicate participations for the 2012 to 2015 years of account:

YOA	2012		2013			2014		2015
Syndicate	(£'000)	(%)*	(£'000)	(%)*		(£'000)	(%)*	(£'000)	(%)*
33	96	11.7%	96	11.7%	101		11.6%	101	12.4%
218	60	7.4%	34	4.1%	34		3.9%	27	3.3%
386	46	5.7%	46	5.6%	46		5.3%	40	4.9%
510	141	17.3%	142	17.2%	142		16.3%	142	17.4%
557	11	1.3%	10	1.2%	10		1.1%	10	1.2%
609	26	3.2%	26	3.2%	27		3.1%	27	3.4%
623	107	13.1%	113	13.6%	122		14.0%	113	13.9%
727	36	4.4%	36	4.4%	36		4.1%	36	4.4%
958	30	3.7%	23	2.8%	18		2.1%	20	2.4%
1176	34	4.2%	34	4.1%	34		3.9%	34	4.2%
2010	11	1.4%	11	1.4%	11		1.3%	10	1.2%
2014	-	-	-	-	35		4.0%	35	4.3%
2525	1	0.1%	1	0.1%	1		0.1%	1	0.1%
2791	91	11.1%	91	11.0%	80		9.2%	71	8.7%
4242	12	1.5%	12	1.5%	12		1.4%	14	1.7%
5820	-	-	30	3.6%	30		3.4%	30	3.7%
6103	25	3.1%	30	3.6%	22		2.5%	9	1.1%
6104	25	3.1%	25	3.0%	35		4.0%	35	4.3%
6105	9	1.1%	5	0.6%	16		1.8%	16	1.9%
6106	16	2.0%	17	2.1%	-		-	-	-
6107	20	2.4%	10	1.2%	10		1.1%	10	1.2%
6110	15	1.8%	27	3.3%	-		-	-	-
6111	6	0.7%	6	0.7%	7		0.8%	6	0.8%
6117	-	-	-	-	42		4.8%	28	3.4%
Total	819	100.0%	825	100.0%	870		100.0%	815	100.0%

* Percentage of total syndicate portfolio

 

END

 

 

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