DUBLIN: Ecclesiastical Insurance has posted a 3.4% drop in gross written premium (GWP) for its UK and Ireland business in the year ended 31 December 2016. Its GWP for 2016 was £220m, compared to £228m in the preceding year. Meanwhile, the provider revealed an increase in underwriting profits for the region to £25.0m in 2016, compared to £11.6m in 2015. In addition, its combined operating ratio (COR) for the UK and Ireland improved to 82.5% (2015: 92.3%). Ecclesiastical stated that its UK and Ireland property business had showed improved underwriting performance compared with 2015 due to relatively benign weather. It noted that commercial insurance business in the UK and Ireland had continued to be competitive, adding that its strategy over the medium-term would be to “achieve moderate GWP growth by adding good-quality business in our existing areas of expertise”.
For the whole of the business the provider reported a small rise in GWP from £308.1m in 2015 to £310.1m in 2016. Its group revenue for 2016 was £310.1m, compared to £308.2m in the preceding year, while its COR was 89.8% (2015: 93.2%). The pre-tax profit came in up 17% at £62.5m. Mark Hews, group chief executive officer of Ecclesiastical commented: “2016 saw us win and retain a range of significant real estate, education, heritage and charity accounts across our territories, from historic palaces to cutting edge property developers. “With the introduction of a new art and private client product, we strengthened our offering to the high net worth market and also added refreshed education, property owner and cyber security products. “We enhanced our senior team, recruiting a new managing director for the UK general insurance business and a new art and private client director.”
