Final Results - Year Ended 31 Dec 1999, Part 1
Amlin PLC
18 May 2000
Part 1
AMLIN plc
PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED
31 DECEMBER 1999 (UNAUDITED)
HIGHLIGHTS
* Major improvements in operating ratios
* Total dividend increased by 8.6% to 3.8p
* Improving rates
- Fleet motor renewal rates up by 24%
- Property catastrophe rates hardening
- Property insurance recovering
* Better focus through disposal of:
- Whittington Group (run-off services)
- Amlin Private Capital (Members Agency)
- Non-aligned Lloyd's capacity
* B2B internet credit insurer growing strongly
* Annual accounting adopted for first time in 1999
Restated
1999 1998(1)
£m £m
Gross written premium
- continuing operations 161.4 52.7
- discontinued 91.4 170.3
operations
Operating profit(2)
- continuing operations 7.2 (3.1)
- discontinued 5.3 15.4
operations
Profit on ordinary 18.3 18.0
activities before taxation
Earnings per share 5.9p 5.6p
Dividend per share 3.8p 3.5p
Net assets per share 110.0p 107.5p
(1) The comparative period is for the seven months to 31
December 1998.
(2) Operating profit is based upon longer term
investment returns.
Roger Taylor, Chairman, commented:
'1999 was a challenging year for Amlin but one from which our Group emerges
stronger, more clearly focused and with a sound platform from which to grow.'
Charles Philipps, Chief Executive, commented:
'We achieved an operating profit from continuing operations of £7.2 million,
up by £10.3 million from 1998. Our claims ratio was 7% better at 71% and our
expense ratio was 2% better at 37%. It was particularly encouraging that we
delivered these results despite 1999 being the second worst ever year for
world-wide insured catastrophe losses.'
'We now focus purely on underwriting, having sold our non-core activities of
Whittington, Amlin Private Capital and our spread capacity, for total proceeds
of £13.4 million. This clarity is essential to our achieving our objective of
building a high quality specialist insurance company.'
'We have streamlined the Group and improved its efficiency by merging our
managing agencies, consolidating all our London Market operations into one set
of premises and rationalising our finance and administration functions. We
have also invested in technology, syndicate monitoring and compliance.'
'Amlin Insurance Services, our motor and UK insurance business, took advantage
of the withdrawal of competitive capacity from the fleet motor market by
achieving average rate increases of 24% on business renewed in 1999, and
adding £6.9 million of new fleet motor business in the first quarter of 2000.'
'Our young e-commerce business, Creditinsure.com, has grown significantly with
premium income almost doubling. This business has exciting potential and we
are currently exploring new product opportunities in the small business market
with partners in the UK and continental Europe.'
'Amlin has come through the down cycle with a strong balance sheet. With our
increased focus, a more streamlined operation and terms of business moving in
our favour, we are confident of being able to grow our business successfully
over the coming years.'
Enquiries:
Charles Philipps 020 7860 8222
Richard Hextall 020 7860 8916
David Haggie 020 7417 8989
FINANCIAL RESULTS
The 1999 results are presented on an annual accounting basis. This is a
change from prior years when a three year fund method of accounting has been
used and reflects the refocusing of our business on our own managed
syndicates.
Consolidated operating profit, after applying a longer term rate of investment
return consistent with usual insurance company accounting policies, was £12.5
million (1998 : £12.3 million). Pre-tax profits were £18.3 million (1998 :
£18.0 million) and earnings per share were 5.9p (1998 : 5.6p).
£7.2 million (1998 : loss of £3.1 million) of the operating profit referred to
above was from continuing operations and £5.3 million (1998: £15.4 million)
was from discontinued operations, comprising the Whittington Group, Amlin's
former members' agency business and non-aligned capacity. These increased
operating profits reflect our ownership of managed capacity, which was 38% in
1999 compared to 24.6% in 1998, and a better underlying result by our managed
syndicates.
DIVIDEND
The Board is proposing a final dividend of 2.5p per share, making a total
dividend of 3.8p per share for the year (1998 : 3.5p). This 8.6% increase is
in line with the progressive dividend policy set out in last year's report and
accounts.
OUTLOOK AND CURRENT TRADING
2000 will continue to benefit from the rate increases which have resulted in
the turnaround of our UK motor fleet account. With these increases we are
currently adding good volumes of new fleet motor business and this class is
expected to represent approximately 17% of our 2000 premium income (on a
Lloyd's year of account basis).
We are seeing increased excess of loss reinsurance rates this year and we
expect this class, which in 1999 represented 21% of our business, to continue
to strengthen further as we approach the 2001 renewal season. We anticipate
that other classes of business will remain difficult during 2000.
We have taken firm action in classes, such as medical malpractice, medical
expenses and US trucking which worsened in 1999, and we are not renewing
business unless satisfactory rate increases are achieved.
With this stance we are beginning to see evidence of a hardening of rates
across a wider spectrum of our non-marine accounts, although these increases
will have little impact on our 2000 results. If such increases continue to
gather momentum, the outlook for 2001 will be encouraging.
As underwriting profitability improves, our results will also benefit from our
increased ownership of managed capacity, which is at 58% for the 2000 Lloyd's
year of account (1999 : 38%). We also have a strong platform from which to
grow our underlying business.
CORE UNDERWRITING BUSINESS
Amlin manages three Lloyd's syndicates which have £538 million of capacity, of
which Amlin owns 58% as shown below. During the 1999 auction season Amlin
successfully acquired £105 million of its capacity, before de-emption, at a
cost of 7p per £. Amlin intends to reach 100% of its capacity, but will
continue to buy capacity in the auctions only at the right price.
Aligned capacity for the 1997 to 2000 years of account
1997 1998 1999 2000
£m £m £m £m
Syndicate 902 5.3 13.2 17.1 21.3
Syndicate 1141 4.7 16.6 39.7 53.2
Syndicate 2001 57.2 128.4 159.3 236.3
Total 67.2 158.2 216.1 310.8
Total managed 642.4 643.6 568.0 538.0
capacity
Percentage owned 10.5% 24.6% 38.0% 57.8%
To provide an understanding of the scale and trends of the underlying
business, annual accounts figures are shown below as if Amlin had owned 100%
of its managed capacity.
1999 1998
£m £m
Gross premium written 446.2 426.4
Net premium written 340.8 335.6
Earned premium, net of reinsurance 345.3 342.0
Claims incurred, net of (246.6) (266.5)
reinsurance
Claims ratio (%) 71% 78%
Brokerage (76.5) (70.5)
Syndicate expenses (39.2) (47.9)
Lloyd's charges (7.7) (11.4)
Increase in deferred acquisition
costs 0.2 0.3
Net operating expenses (123.2) (129.5)
Expense ratio (%) 37% 39%
Combined ratio (%) 108% 117%
Investment income before smoothing 19.4 37.6
investment return
Technical loss (7.0) (20.9)
Competition remained intense in 1999 across most of our classes and with this
there was the highest frequency of catastrophe losses since 1990. The period
also suffered from adverse claims development in US liability business,
particularly on our medical malpractice account.
As the year progressed, conditions in the motor market improved, particularly
the fleet motor which forms the core part of our Amlin Insurance Services
division. Average rate increases of 24% have been achieved on fleet business
renewed in 1999, and our premium income in this class increased by over 60% to
£46 million. Our result also benefited from the closure of a large part of
our non-US liability business which made a 1998 loss of £6.8 million, with a
combined ratio of 144%.
NON-ALIGNED UNDERWRITING
The remaining portfolio of non-aligned syndicate participations was sold in
1999, realising a gain of £5.0 million which is included in the results as an
exceptional profit.
Underwriting profits and losses from non-aligned syndicates continue to be
accounted for on a three year fund basis and will therefore have an impact on
the Group's results for two more years. In the year under review, profits and
losses from the 1997 Lloyd's year of account and movements in provisions for
the 1998 and 1999 open years are included.
The results of our non-aligned portfolio are disappointing. However, relative
to Lloyd's overall result, our portfolio has outperformed the market. Our
results and forecasts for the 1997 and 1998 years of account are losses of
1.6% and 3.8% respectively. Six of our 1997 year of account syndicates, on
which we had a total of £14.9 million of capacity, have been left open and we
have provided for possible run off deterioration of £1 million on these
syndicates.
We have strengthened our provisions for the 1998 year of account reflecting
the late deterioration of forecasts. Total provisions in respect of this year
of account amount to £8.4 million, which represents 5.4% of 1998 non-aligned
capacity.
The 1999 year of account is still at an early stage of development but we have
provided for potential losses of £2.6 million, which represents 3.1% of 1999
non-aligned capacity.
Consolidated Profit and Loss Account
for the year ended 31 December 1999
Unaudited
7 months
to
1999 31
December
Continuing Discontinued Total 1998
operations operations (Restated)
£m £m £m £m
Technical
Account
Gross 161.4 91.4 252.8 223.0
premiums
written
Outward (34.6) (22.7) (57.3) (47.2)
reinsurance
premiums
Net 126.8 68.7 195.5 175.8
premiums
written
Change in the
provision for unearned
premiums
- gross amount (22.8) - (22.8) (12.3)
- reinsurers' 2.4 - 2.4 1.1
share
Earned premiums, net 106.4 68.7 175.1 164.6
of reinsurance
Allocated investment
return transferred
from the 14.8 9.9 24.7 17.8
non-technical
account
Claims
paid
- gross amount (69.1) (85.4) (154.5) (100.1)
- reinsurers' share 16.9 31.6 48.5 31.0
Change in the
provision
for claims
- gross amount (48.1) (38.6) (86.7) (123.9)
- reinsurers' 21.2 25.5 46.7 65.0
share
Claims incurred, net (79.1) (66.9) (146.0) (128.0)
of reinsurance
Net (39.7) (12.8) (52.5) (45.9)
operating
expenses
Balance on the technical 2.4 (1.1) 1.3 8.5
account for general
business
The technical account for the seven months ended 31 December 1998 includes
twelve months transactions in respect of the Group's non-aligned
participations and seven months in respect of its aligned participations.
Consolidated Profit and Loss Account
for the year ended 31 December 1999
Unaudited
7 months
to
1999 31
December
Continuing Discontinued 1998
operations operations Total (Restated)
£m £m £m £m
Non-technical
account
Balance on the 2.4 (1.1) 1.3 8.5
technical account for
generalbusiness
Investment Inco 16.5 10.1 26.6 19.8
Unrealised 10.8 - 10.8 0.3
gains on investments
Investment (1.4) (0.2) (1.6) (1.7)
expenses and charges
Allocated investment return (14.8) (9.9) (24.7) (17.8)
transferred to the technical
account
13.5 (1.1) 12.4 9.1
Other 5.8 24.2 30.0 31.1
income
Other (9.9) (17.8) (27.7) (27.0)
charges
Operating profit 9.4 5.3 14.7 13.2
Comprising:
Operating profit based on 7.2 5.3 12.5 12.3
longer term investment return
Short term 2.2 - 2.2 0.9
fluctuations in
investmentreturn
Profit on sale of syndicate
participations 5.0 8.7
Loss on sale of subsidiary (1.4) -
undertakings
Merger costs - (3.9)
Profit on ordinary activities 18.3 18.0
before taxation
Taxation on profit on ordinary
activities (6.2) (6.5)
Profit on ordinary activities after
taxation 12.1 11.5
Equity dividends (7.8) (7.2)
Retained profit for the period 4.3 4.3
Earnings per ordinary share
- basic 5.9p 5.6p
- diluted 5.6p 5.2p
Consolidated Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses
for the year ended 31 December 1999
7 Months to
31 December
1999 1998
(Restated)
£m £m
Profit for the period 12.1 11.5
Total recognised gains for the period 12.1 11.5
Prior period adjustment (9.5)
Total gains and losses recognised
Consolidated Balance Sheet
as at 31 December 1999
Unaudited
1998
1999 (Restated)
£m £m
ASSETS
Intangible assets 12.4 5.3
Investments
Other 426.1 400.6
financial
investments
Reinsurers' share of technical
provisions
Provision for 6.5 4.0
unearned premiums
Claims outstanding 128.6 107.1
135.1 111.1
Debtors
Debtors arising out of 42.9 54.9
direct insurance operations
Debtors arising out or 108.4 115.6
reinsurance operations
Other debtors 31.3 15.4
182.6 185.9
Other assets
Tangible assets 1.5 3.5
Cash at bank and in hand 26.8 31.8
Own shares 3.9 2.4
32.2 37.7
Prepayments and accrued income
Deferred 10.7 6.4
acquisition costs
Other prepayments 6.1 16.1
and accrued income
Total assets 805.2 763.1
Consolidated Balance Sheet
as at 31 December 1999
Unaudited
1999 1998
(Restated)
£m £m
LIABILITIES
Capital and reserves
Called up share 54.1 53.9
capital
Share premium 54.6 54.2
account
Shares to be 1.3 1.8
issued
Merger reserve 41.9 42.1
Warrant reserve 2.8 2.8
Profit and loss 72.2 66.8
account
Equity shareholders' funds 226.9 221.6
Technical provisions
Provision for 64.6 39.5
unearned premiums
Claims outstanding 396.1 394.3
460.7 433.8
Provisions for other risks and charges 6.8 5.1
Creditors
Creditors arising out of direct 29.8 7.3
insurance operations
Creditors 23.6 13.4
arising out
of reinsurance operations
Other creditors including 37.2 52.8
taxation and social security
90.6 73.5
Creditors: amounts falling due after 9.9 14.8
more than one year
Accruals and deferred income 10.3 14.3
Total liabilities 805.2 763.1
Consolidated net assets per share
- basic 110.0p 107.5p
- diluted 106.9p 102.2p
Reconciliation of movements in equity shareholders' funds
At 31
December
1998
1999 (restated)
£m £m
Profit attributable to 12.1 11.5
shareholders
Less dividends (7.8) (7.2)
Retained profit for the period 4.3 4.3
Issue of capital 0.6 2.1
Share to be issued (0.5) 1.2
Goodwill previously written off 1.1 -
Goodwill (0.2) (0.8)
Net addition to shareholders' 5.3 6.8
funds
Shareholders' funds brought forward 221.6 214.8
Shareholders' funds carried forward 226.9 221.6
Reserves
Share Merger Warrant Profit
premium reserve reserve and loss
account account
(Restated)
£m £m £m £m
At 1 January 1999 as previously 54.2 42.1 2.8 76.3
reported
Prior period adjustment - - - (9.5)
At 1 January 1999 restated 54.2 42.1 2.8 66.8
Movement in period:
Issues of shares on exercise of 0.1 - - -
warrants
Issue of shares in respect of 0.3 - - -
deferred consideration
Adjustment to goodwill in respect
of acquisition in a prior period - (0.2) - -
Goodwill previously written off on - - - 1.1
disposals in the year
Retained profit for - - 4.3
the year
At 31 December 1999 54.6 41.9 2.8 72.2
MORE TO FOLLOW
FR UWSBRRARVARR