PRODUCT PROFILE

Latest Dublin Prices

FBD earnings helped by benign weather

Monday, March 04 10:19:05

Pre-tax profits at Irish listed insurers, FBD, rose last year as it increased market share and was helped by much fewer weather related claims, it said today.

Profit before taxation rose 5.3pc to E52.9m while operating profits rose from E60.2m in 2011 to E66m last year.

FBD said its operating earnings per share rose to 172 cent from 157 cent in 2011 while operating profit in its core underwriting business at E60.4m surpassed the strong performance the previous year.

It said that gross premium written fell by 2pc to 344.3m in a market that declined by 5.5pc.

Commenting on the results, Andrew Langford, Group Chief Executive, said: 2012 was another excellent year for the Group.

"We generated profit before taxation of E52.9m, up 5.3pc on 2011. In addition to the outstanding results, we invested further in our business to ensure continued delivery of superior performance in future years. The 29pc increase in final dividend reflects the Board's confidence that the Group can continue to outperform its peers."

Net claims incurred improved by 5.1pc to E191.9m. The company said that good progress was made in reducing those elements of claims costs within its control, while it also benefited from factors over which it has less influence, especially the low level of weather related claims last year.

FBD said its final dividend rose by 29pc to 30 cent, which saw full year dividend growth of 22.5pc.