AGM Statement

RNS Number : 2116G

Randall & Quilter Inv Hldgs PLC

27 June 2012

 



Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings plc

AGM Statement

27 June 2012

Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings plc (AIM:RQIH), the specialist non-life insurance investor, service provider and underwriting manager, is holding its Annual General Meeting today at 12.00 noon. In his address, Chairman and CEO Ken Randall, will update shareholders as follows:

"Since announcing our final results on 19 April 2012, I am pleased to confirm that the business continues to perform well and indications are that the first half result will be in line with the Board's expectations.

The Insurance Investments Division looks set to have a strong first half, driven by a good performance by the Group's  run-off syndicates and higher than anticipated investment income earned by our insurance company subsidiaries.  We have also received some significant dividends from our insurance debt portfolio.

By June 30, we will have extracted c.£6m in aggregate from Chevanstell, La Licorne and our newly amalgamated captive, R&Q Insurance (Guernsey).

The Insurance Services Division is performing in line with expectations though certain new business income deferral may again result in an element of second half year bias. Meanwhile, we continue to seek improvements in operational efficiency to assist profitable expansion.

Save for the Canadian MGA operations, which following a thorough review, we have decided to close; the Underwriting Management Division is performing satisfactorily. Whilst the closure of Canada will incur one-off costs of £600k, we are expecting improved trading in the division during the remainder of the year. We also continue to pursue additional syndicate management opportunities and to bring further operational efficiencies to our MGA business.

The Captives Division is performing ahead of expectations as a result of new business income, including one-off fees related to assisting clients with exit solutions.

As announced today, we are pleased with the positive resolution of our various disputes with the Ace Group and expect this to contribute towards a more certain outlook for R&Q Re (US).

We have had an active first half in terms of acquisitions in the Insurance Investments Division, having completed the RITC of former Syndicate 1208 (now Syndicate 3330) and the purchase of the Northern Foods and Trimac captives. Our acquisition pipeline remains strong and we are pursuing other attractive run-off captive and insurance company opportunities. We have also seen increased deal flow in respect of insurance debt purchases and this looks set to continue.

As such, whilst low interest rates, a weak, albeit slowly improving underwriting environment and increasing regulatory and corporate governance expenditure continue to pose challenges, we look forward to the remainder of the year and beyond with confidence."

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Enquiries to:

Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings PLC               www.rqih.com  

Tom Booth                                                                  Tel: [phone]

Numis Securities Limited

Stuart Skinner (Nominated Adviser)                           Tel: [phone]

Charles Farquhar (Broker)                                          Tel: [phone]

Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited

Dru Danford/Stephane Auton                                      Tel: [phone]

FTI Consulting                                                                            

Neil Doyle/Edward Berry                                              Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors:

Since formation, Randall & Quilter has pursued a buy and build strategy to create a comprehensive range of investment activities and services in the global non-life insurance market and is focused on the following four core areas:

-          Insurance Investments;

-          Insurance Services;

-          Underwriting Management; and

-          Captives.

The Group currently:

- has a team of up to 400 insurance professionals based in the UK, USA, Bermuda, and Continental Europe with wide service capability in both the 'live' and 'run-off' market;

- has a portfolio of 10 insurance companies in run-off (from the UK, US and Continental Europe) with net assets of c.£85.5m as at 31 December 2011;

- provides 'turnkey' management services to Lloyd's syndicate 1897, manages two RITC ('run-off') syndicates and owns and operates 5 MGAs.

- acquires and manages a portfolio of insurance receivables, with a carrying cost of c. £8.2m as at 31 December 2011;

The Group was founded by Ken Randall, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive, and Alan Quilter, Chief Operating Officer, who both have extensive experience in the industry including as Head of Regulation of Lloyd's and as Head of the Market Financial Services Group respectively.

 

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