MS Amlin has reported a £101 million adjusted loss for the first half of the year, despite a 10.9 percentage point improvement in its combined ratio to 99.9% for the period.
The main reason for the negative result was catastrophe losses in the period, driven mostly by the impacts of Hurricane Ida in the U.S. and the European floods in July.
MS Amlin says that its results reflect the reversal of the North American cold wave loss impact of £69 million, which was additionally recorded in the financial statements of FY2020, as well as the European flood impact of £87 million and the hurricane Ida impact of £116 million, which were additionally booked in Q2 of the current fiscal year.
Before these additional costs, MS Amlin would have reported profit of £102 million.
At the same time, the company has reported losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic of £46 million in H1 2021, compared with losses of £313 million a year earlier.
Overall, MS Amlin has recorded incurred losses of £830 million for H1 2021, compared with losses of £1.1 billion a year earlier.
Excluding the above large losses, and net income improved by an impressive £187 million to £33 million for H1 2021. The firm attributes this improvement to lower COVID-19 losses and improvement in non-catastrophe lines at its Lloyd’s business.
Despite the catastrophe experience in the period, MS Amlin’s claims ratio improved by 14.3 percentage points to 64.1%, while the expense ratio deteriorated slightly to 35.8%.
All in all, the reinsurer has reported a combined ratio of 99.9% for the first half of the year, compared with a combined ratio of 110.8% for the same period a year earlier.
The improved combined ratio reflects an underwriting profit of £1 million for H1 2021, compared with an underwriting loss of £156 million a year earlier.
Net written premiums increased, year-on-year, from £1.89 billion to £1.92 billion in H1 2021, while net premiums earned declined by £151 million to £1.29 billion.
On the asset side of the balance sheet, MS Amlin’s investment profit increased by £24 million to £66 million.
