The insurer Lancashire Holdings’s trading update cheered investors after it reassured them that losses from Hurricane Ian will be manageable. The FTSE 250 underwriter, which provides property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, said its exposure to the hurricane will cost it between $160 million and $190 million, within its expectations for such an event.
The company said gross premiums written had risen in the first nine months of the year to $1.3 billion, up 24.3 per cent on the same period a year before, which it put down to new business in casualty reinsurance and continued hardening in property reinsurance classes.
Analysts said the acceleration in growth highlights management’s willingness to increase exposure while the rating environment is attractive.
Panmure Gordon analyst Abid Hussain, who recommends clients buy the stock, notes that demand for insurance and reinsurance is likely to rise given climate change and the increase in natural catastrophes.
The shares were up by 30p, or 5.7 per cent, to a 12-month high of 557p.