2018: FBD reveals €18 million profit for first 6 months

FBD Holdings plc recorded a strong showing for the first six months of 2018, revealing a profit before tax of €18 million.

This was announced in the group’s half-yearly report, for the six months ended June 30, 2018.

Performance

The firm saw a combined operating ratio of 88.6% including the net of reinsurance for Storm Emma costs of €6.6 million and a positive prior year reserve development of €6 million.

Gross Written Premium has increased by 1% to €192 million in 2018 – some €2 million higher than 2017 figures. The company has put this rise down to strong customer retention, combined with increased new business in Consumer, Commercial and Farm aspects of the firm.

FBD Holdings recorded a half-year annualised return on equity of 12% for the past six months.

The firm’s net profit before tax has seen a considerable increase of 54.6% over last year, recording a figure of €18.4 million – compared to €11.9 million in 2017.

Annualised total investment return however, has fallen, coming in at -0.4%. In 2017 this was 0.7%.

An expense ratio of 25.3% was given for the first half of the year, some 2.7% higher than last year; this is primarily as a result of the once-off impact in 2017 of the closure of the property reinsurance surplus treaty, according to the company.

“Careful growth and disciplined underwriting is delivering excellent underwriting profits,” according to the firm, showing an underwriting profit of €18.9 million – up some 70.2% from its 2017 figure of €11.1 million.

This growth has been attributed to:

Premium and new business policy count growth;
The company’s reinsurance programme, which has protected from significant adverse weather;
Digital enhancements to FBD.ie;
A new Dublin office on Baggot Street and ongoing investment in nationwide branch network.

Investment returns

Investment returns continue to be poor in a volatile environment emphasising the need for continued underwriting discipline.

Commenting on these results, Fiona Muldoon, group chief executive, said: “This is a very strong set of results for the first half of 2018 – particularly in the context of a major snow storm in March.

“Despite adverse weather, challenging investment returns and a competitive market, the team has delivered a healthy profit of €18 million for the first half of the year.

The cost of injury claims remains a challenge for Irish customers. We look forward to the Personal Injuries Commission report and we urge the Government to follow up in order to provide a lower cost, sustainable claims environment for the benefit of all insurance customers particularly Irish businesses.

“We continue to work hard to ensure that all new proposals will deliver for Irish farmers, businesses and consumers, who continue to bear the cost of significantly higher premiums than those seen in other countries.

“We were delighted to open our Baggot Street Branch last week and we will use this office as a base to offer commercial insurance to many Dublin-based businesses. We are also looking forward to the launch of our motor insurance partnership with Post Insurance in the coming months.”