Ecclesiastical enjoys improved pre-tax profit

Ecclesiastical enjoys improved pre-tax profit | Insurance Business Australia

Insurance News

Ecclesiastical enjoys improved pre-tax profit

UK general insurance bounces back from previous underwriting loss

Insurance News

By
Terry Gangcuangco

Ecclesiastical Insurance Office Plc has published its financial results for the first half of 2024, outlining how it performed in the UK and Ireland, Canada, and Australia.

Group-wide, the Gloucester-headquartered insurer reported £301.1 million in gross written premium, an increase from £288.2 million in the same half-year period last year.

Meanwhile Ecclesiastical’s underwriting profit from its general insurance operations amounted to £20.4 million, up from £0.3 million previously, thanks to a more stable claims environment.

Broken down geographically, here’s how the general insurance business fared:

Source

H1 2024 GWP

Change from H1 2023

H1 2024 underwriting profit/(loss)

H1 2023 underwriting profit/(loss)

UK and Ireland

£212.5m

Up 11.3%

£18 million

£(6.5 million)

Canada

£37.7m

Down 4%

£6.3 million

£5 million

Australia

£37.7m

Down 8.3%

£(1.1 million)

£0.5 million

As for Ecclesiastical’s life business, a profit before tax of £0.3 million was recorded in H1. The corresponding sum in 2023 was higher, at £0.5 million.

The consolidated pre-tax profit for the group stood at £41.4 million, an increase from last year’s £10.2 million. Ecclesiastical’s combined operating ratio also improved, from 99.8% to 88.6%, while its net investment result grew to £34.6 million.

“We are clearly delighted by these results and would like to thank all our supporters for their help in growing our business so that we can give even more to good causes, transforming lives and communities in this country and abroad,” stated group chief executive Mark Hews (pictured).

The CEO highlighted: “Thanks to all our supporters, we are now the third biggest corporate donor to charity in the UK, and this brings our total giving since 2014 to £231 million and keeps us on course to meet our ambition to give £250 million to good causes by the end of 2025.”

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