Lloyd’s of London investor sees premiums soar thanks to bumper market

Helios Underwriting said the value of insurance it wrote for customers surged to £230m in the first half of the year on the back of “exceptionally good” market conditions at the Lloyd’s of London market.

The London-based investment vehicle, the only listed company with access to a diverse portfolio of Lloyd’s syndicates, reported it had benefited from strong insurance market in the first half of its financial year.

In its results for the first half of 2024, Helios reported a 45 per cent increase in gross written premiums, reaching £230m, up from £159m.

The Lloyd’s market itself also experienced an additional rate increase of 1.5 per cent over the six-month period, following a 9.1 per cent increase in the first half of 2023, which it said reflected strength in market conditions.

Helios reported a similar underwriting result compared to the previous year, with a figure of £10.8m, close to the £11.6m recorded for the same period in 2023.

Commenting on the results, executive chairman, Michael Wade said: “The Lloyd’s market is experiencing exceptionally good market conditions, as increased underwriting discipline combines with strong growth and sustainable price increases.”

He added that “in the first half of the year, we have expanded our retained Lloyd’s syndicate capacity participation to £397m, whilst cash levels remain strong at £35m.”

He noted that the group is “confident’ that its spread Lloyd’s syndicate portfolio strategy will continue to generate attractive returns for shareholders.

Earlier this month, Lloyd’s of London reported a jump in profit after it generated overall profit before tax of £4.9bn in the first half of 2024, up from the figure of £3.9bn reported in the same period of 2023.

Lloyd’s chief, John Neal said its HY1 results were a “superb set of results for the Lloyd’s market”.