Lancashire Holdings well positioned to deal with pressure on insurance rates

30th Apr 2015 11:09

Insurance group Lancashire Holdings said pre-tax profit declined in the first quarter, but it remained better equipped to deal with pressure on insurance rates than its sector peers.The FTSE 250 group reported an 11% drop year-on-year in pre-tax profit to $51.5m (£33.4m) for the three months to 31 March, while gross premium written dropped 22.9% to $244.3m and expenses fell 2.7% to $115.5m.In a statement released on Thursday, group chief executive Alex Maloney said pricing was under pressure across the board during the first quarter, adding he thought the company was "better positioned" than many of its competitors.Investment return, including net investment income, net other investment income, net realised gains and losses, impairments and net change in unrealised gains and losses, jumped to $21.4m from $7.9m in the corresponding period of 2014.Net investment income, excluding realised and unrealised gains and losses, rose 7% to $7.6m."Returns for the quarter were bolstered by strong returns in the hedge fund and bank loan portfolios, with our fixed income portfolio also benefiting from a decline in treasury yields driven by weaker US growth and continued low levels of inflation," the group said in a statement.Lancashire Holdings shares were down 0.93% to 637.50p at 11:36 on Thursday.