FTSE 250 movers: Lancashire pays another special divi

4th Nov 2011 16:38

Third-quarter figures from Lancashire Holdings were rosy, with the insurance broker admitting it got off fairly lightly in the Atlantic wind season."The Atlantic wind season threatened serious losses with the US landfall of Hurricane Irene, but a fall in the intensity of the wind speeds resulted in thankfully lower losses to life and property than might have been anticipated," said Richard Brindle, group chief executive officer of Lancashire. Gross premiums written in the third quarter of 2011 rose to $142.9m versus $135.0m the year before, while net premiums written rose to $133.6m from $134.0m the year before.Profit before tax retreated to $79.0m from $107.6m last year, but that did not stop the board from recommending a special dividend payment of 80 cents, although, in the circumstances, it was understandable that this failed to match the $1.40 special dividend announced with the third-quarter results last year. The shares were among the best performers on the FTSE 250 index.Dragging the index lower was hotels operator Millennium & Copthorne, after it warned of a slow-down in revenue growth, as companies cut back on sanctioning business trips."We are noticing more caution amongst business customers, reflecting anxiety about events affecting the Eurozone," the company's chairman Kwek Leng Beng acknowledged. FTSE 250 - RisersGem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 219.20p +6.46%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 511.50p +5.46%Lancashire Holdings (LRE) 746.00p +5.07%BTG (BGC) 285.90p +4.23%BBA Aviation (BBA) 183.60p +3.90%Salamander Energy (SMDR) 204.00p +3.82%Premier Foods (PFD) 3.41p +3.74%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 316.40p +3.43%EnQuest (ENQ) 105.50p +3.23%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 463.90p +3.04%FTSE 250 - FallersInternational Personal Finance (IPF) 223.70p -6.28%Afren (AFR) 82.00p -5.80%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 224.10p -5.28%Ocado Group (OCDO) 88.15p -4.81%Home Retail Group (HOME) 90.75p -4.67%Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 413.50p -4.50%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 27.12p -4.07%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 68.00p -3.95%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 229.50p -3.77%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 205.30p -3.57%--jh