Acquisition

RNS Number : 8831Q

Helios Underwriting Plc

05 December 2016

 

5 December 2016

Helios Underwriting plc

("Helios" or the "Company")

Acquisition of Salviscount LLP

Acquisition of Salviscount LLP

Helios is pleased to announce that, in line with its strategy of increasing underwriting capacity through acquisition, on 2 December 2016 it acquired Salviscoint Limited Liability Partnership (Salviscount), a limited liability member of Lloyd's ("LLV"), for a consideration of £0.8 million in cash.  The 2016 underwriting capacity of Salviscount is £1.0 million (this compares with Helios's 2016 capacity of £32.7 million prior to this acquisition).  Salviscount participates in a spread of Lloyd's syndicates broadly similar to Helios's own participation. The capacity acquired, which Helios expects to retain, is as follows:

Salviscount LLP		Year of Account
	2014	2015	2016
	£m	£m	£m
Retained	1.08	0.9	1.0
Reinsured	-	-	-
Total Capacity	1.08	0.9	1.0

Commenting upon the acquisition, Nigel Hanbury, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, said:

"We are delighted to have made a further acquisition which further increases our underwriting capacity.  This is in line with our stated strategy of acquiring corporate members as suitable opportunities arise.  We continue to believe that there remain significant opportunities for further growth available to the Company."

Additional information

Salviscount LLP (Salviscount) is a limited liability member of Lloyd's.  In the year ended 31 December 2015, Salviscount made a profit before tax of £0.118m on gross premiums written of £0.881m and its net asset value at completion is expected to be approximately £0.8m, including underwriting capacity with an estimated market value of £0.4m.

Set out below are Salviscount's 2014 and 2015 open years of account forecasts:

YOA	Salviscount syndicate capacity (£'000)	Forecast of syndicate profit (30 September 2016)
		Mid point (£'000)	Mid point (%)	Range (%)
2014	1,084	123	11.37	14.77% - 7.97%
2015	936	67	7.2%	11.19% - 3.20%

Source: Syndicate data and Helios analysis (before early release)

For further information please contact:

Helios Nigel Hanbury - Chief Executive Arthur Manners	020 7863 6655 / [e-mail] 07754 965 917
Stockdale Robert Finlay	020 7601 6100

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 £32 million of capacity for the 2016 account.  The portfolio provides a good spread of classes of business being concentrated in property insurance and reinsurance.  For further information please visit www.huwplc.com.

 

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