Stockwatch: Lancashire soars on record Q1 premiums
The Lloyd’s sub-group rose 5.8% – well ahead of the FTSE 100
Hiscox up 6% as hard market spurs strong premium growth
Shares in Lancashire surged 9.5% in the fortnight to May 3 after the Lloyd’s firm posted record first-quarter premiums – a 22% increase on the same period in 2022.
Insurance Day’s Lloyd’s sub-group rose 5.8% – well ahead of the FTSE 100 (-1.4%) – as Lloyd’s firms enjoyed ongoing rate acceleration and improved results.
Hiscox (+6%) also saw big gains as it grew its premiums in the quarter, including a 38% rise in net reinsurance premiums.
Bullish sentiment also lifted Beazley (+2%), although the firm has a long way to climb following its costly year-end accounting slip-up. On Wednesday, Beazley’s stock price was down 13.2% for the year-to-date and its accountants may be double- and triple-checking their first-quarter filing.
Global equities headed south over the past fortnight, but insurance stocks held their ground in Europe (+0.5%) and Bermuda (-0.4%).
Hannover Re gained another 4.2% having leapfrogged Swiss Re into second place in the list of the world’s largest reinsurers. It has also outperformed its rival on the stock markets over the 12 months, gaining 28.8% to Swiss Re's 11.5%.
In Bermuda, Arch Capital (+4.8%) rose as first-quarter profits surged by 55%.
However, SiriusPoint suffered a 6.7% correction – despite reporting it had returned to profit in the quarter – but remained on Wednesday up 50.0% for the year-to-date after a superb recent run.
Meanwhile, Axis Capital (-4.7%) may be feeling the pinch from its exit from the property reinsurance space.
In the US, AIG's (-3.4%) decline deepened, taking its year-to-date return to -18.8%.
