HELIOS UNDERWRITING PLC

Earnings Release • Mar 29, 2019

National Storage Mechanism | Additional information

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RNS Number : 4022U

Helios Underwriting Plc

29 March 2019

29th March 2019                                                              

Helios Underwriting plc

('Helios' or 'the Company')

Quarterly Syndicate Mid-point Forecasts

Helios, the unique investment vehicle which acquires and consolidates private underwriting capacity at Lloyd's, announces the current mid-point forecasts in respect of its portfolio of syndicate capacity for the 2016 and 2017 years of account based on 4th quarter 2018 results.

Nigel Hanbury, Chief Executive, commented:

"As the only listed consolidator of private capital at Lloyd's, Helios offers a unique opportunity for growth and returns from exposure to the Lloyd's market through targeted acquisitions of the better quality syndicates. Our strategy is bringing results, with returns on average 5.4% better than the Lloyd's market itself.

"Looking ahead, the number of LLV's for sale is increasing and we see attractive near-term opportunities to continue to build our core portfolio of capacity and achieve outperformance against the Lloyd's market as whole.

"We look forward to the future with confidence."

		Year of Account
		2016	2017	2018	2019
		£m	£m	£m	£m
Capacity - Position as at 28th March 2019
	Retained	35.1	28.9	18.7	16.1
	Reinsured	19.9	25.4	38.2	37.6
		55.0	54.3	56.9	53.7
Mid-point forecast at 30th September 2018		5.51%	(8.39%)
Result / Current mid-point forecast		5.99%	(9.53%)	N/A
Lloyd's Market Average		(2.86%)	(10.92%)
Helios outperformance		8.85%	1.39%

Notes

1)    The table above shows the capacity as at 28th March 2019 splitting the capacity retained by Helios and the capacity that is ceded to quota share reinsurers.  Helios acquired six limited liability vehicles during 2018 for a total consideration of £12.2m and in 2019 to date a single LLV has been acquired for £1.1m

2)    The result for the 2016 year of account and the mid point forecasts for 2017 year of account as of 4th quarter 2018 have been aggregated at syndicate level from estimates supplied by Managing Agents

3)    The Helios outperformance is measured using the result on the capacity at the end of the year - including the capacity of the portfolios acquired which include participations on underperforming syndicates that will subsequently be discarded.  The effect of excluding the acquired capacity and basing the  Helios outperformance against  the mid-point forecasts on the capacity at the start of the underwriting year - the core Helios portfolio - versus the Lloyds Market average is shown below:

	2016	2017
Result / Current mid-point forecast Core Portfolio	8.60%	-8.26%
Lloyd's Market Average	-2.86%	-10.92%
Helios out performance	11.46%	2.66%

4)    The 2017 mid point estimates have been impacted by both the attritional losses that were incurred during 2018 and by the deterioration of forecasts of the 2017 losses by some syndicates.

5)    The impact on Helios will be as follows:

a.    The change in the mid point estimates on the retained capacity over the year will be recognised in the Helios income statement in the year to 31st December 2018.

b.    The overall change in the result will be recognised by Helios in cash at the close of the year of account.

For further information, please contact:

Helios Underwriting plc

Nigel Hanbury - Chief Executive                                                     07787530 404 / nigel.hanbury@huwplc.com

Arthur Manners - Chief Financial Officer                                      07754 965 917

Stockdale Securities Limited

Robert Finlay                                                                                     020 7601 6100

David Coaten

Buchanan                                                                                           020 7466 5000

Helen Tarbet

Henry Wilson

Hannah Ratcliff

About Helios

Helios provides a limited liability direct investment into the Lloyd's insurance market and is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market (ticker: HUW). Helios trades within the Lloyd's insurance market writing approximately £54m of capacity for the 2019 account. The portfolio provides a good spread of business being concentrated in property insurance and reinsurance. For further information please visit www.huwplc.com.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

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