Lloyd’s insurer Amlin enjoys bumper year
LLOYD’S of London insurer Amlin saw profits jump fourfold last year as it benefited from a recovery in investment markets and avoided major natural disasters.
Amlin reported a pre-tax profit for 2009 of £509.1m, compared with £121.6m in 2008. The results were almost a fifth higher than most analysts predicted.
Bullish Amlin chief executive Charles Philips told City A.M.: “The business was firing on all cylinders last year and we had low catastrophe losses. The difference between us and our rivals is our astute investments. We made a decision to switch from gilts to corporate bonds after looking at the risks. We have out-performed our rivals by 120 basis points over the last five years.
“We looked at a share buy back last year and decided against it but if the price comes down we will consider it again.
“These results are not a one off and next year we expect income to rise by 30 per cent, partly organic and partly through the full year consolidation of acquisitions.”
The company will pay a second interim dividend in lieu of a final dividend of 13.5p per share, bringing total dividends for the year to 20p per share.