Highlights
Strong start to the year with gross premiums written growing by 4.6% in local currency
Profit before tax of £124.6m impacted by £51m foreign exchange swing (from 2013)
The long-term investment in Hiscox's retail businesses continues to deliver good profitable growth
Acquisition of DirectAsia complete
Hiscox London Market performs well, benefitting from product diversity
Hiscox Re premium income down by 21.6% (13.0% in local currency) as pressure on rates continues
Dividend increase of 7.1% per share
Bronek Masojada, Chief Executive Officer, Hiscox Ltd, commented
"It has been a great start - at constant exchange rates the Group made a similar profit to last year. Falling rates and deteriorating terms and conditions are putting pressure on the market. We've seen this before, but our discipline and strategy of balance is designed to absorb these conditions. We will seize opportunities as they present themselves in our specialty lines and maintain our discipline in the face of increasingly strong headwinds."
