2016 Trading results
Group operating profit £655m up 25% (2015: £523m): Scandinavia £311m; Canada £140m; UK £259m.
Record Group underwriting profit of £380m, up 73% (2015: £220m). Core Group combined ratio of 93.8% (2015: 96.0%). Scandinavia 86.2%; Canada 94.9%; and the UK 95.4%.
Record Group current year underwriting profit of £271m (2015: £129m): Core Group attritional loss ratio 1.4pts better than last year, weather and large losses 0.3pts worse. Group prior year underwriting profit of £109m (2015: £91m).
Core Group premiums of £6.3bn up 6%, although down slightly on an underlying basis.
Investment income £369m (2015: £403m), fell 8% reflecting impact of disposals and low bond yields, partly offset by FX translation benefits.
Non-capital charge of £204m for disposal of legacy liabilities; Other non-operating charges of £261m (c.90% non-capital in nature);
Post tax statutory profit of £20m reflecting the non-capital accounting charges above (2015: £244m benefited from disposal gains).
Underlying earnings per share (EPS) 39.5p up 42% (2015: 27.8p).
Final dividend of 11p/ordinary share proposed, bringing total 2016 dividends to 16p/ordinary share (up 52%).
