MS Amlin Underwriting posts 88.8% CR for 9M24

By Rebecca Delaney

Feb 14 - (The Insurer) - MS Amlin Underwriting Limited (MS AUL), including Syndicate 2001, has posted a combined ratio of 88.8 percent for the first nine months of 2024.

The combined ratio deteriorated by 1.2 percentage points from the prior-year period, and includes an expense ratio of 36.4 percent. MS AUL said in its H1 results that the full-year expense ratio is expected to continue its trend of year-on-year improvement due to reduced acquisition costs.

MS AUL reported an insurance service profit of £130mn ($164mn), up from £124mn in the same period of 2023, which parent company MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings said was driven by continued strong underwriting discipline that was able to absorb the impact of the Baltimore bridge loss in Q1 and Hurricane Helene in Q3.

The net financial result swung to a £29mn profit from flat in the prior-year period, while profit after tax ticked up to £103mn.

Net written premiums fell to £1.11bn from £1.25bn in the first nine months of 2023. As noted in MS AUL's H1 results, NWP in 2024 includes a change to the quarterly estimation method for delegated authority business. Without this, the change in NWP would have been positive on a like-for-like basis at £1.36bn.

Net premium earned increased to £1.15bn from £967mn in the prior-year period.

Elsewhere, MS Re reported a combined ratio of 90.0 percent for the nine-month period, with NWP increasing by 23 percent to $2.92bn.

The Zurich-based reinsurance arm's net income increased by $75mn year on year to $222mn, with the insurance service profit of $215mn driven by significant premium growth of $542mn from continued business expansion.

Financial profit increased to $45mn, which MS&AD attributed to continued favourable investment returns in non-duration investment assets and lower discounting volatility.

At a group level, MS&AD posted NWP of ¥3,571.2bn ($23.4bn), an increase of 10.5 percent year on year.

Net income increased by ¥344.4bn to ¥626.0bn, with group adjusted profit totalling ¥633.9bn.

MS&AD added that adjusted profit in international business increased by ¥75.2bn to ¥156.3bn owing to improved profitability, increased premiums and a decrease in natural catastrophe losses.

For the latter, the impact of overseas nat cats for overseas subsidiaries (Lloyd's and reinsurance operations) stood at ¥5.6bn, down from ¥16.8bn in the first nine months of 2023.