After suffering losses totalling $180m (£113m) from the Chilean earthquake and the Deepwater horizon rig disaster, Catlin's half-year pre-tax profit fell to $86m from last year's $240m. The combined ratio (of claims to premiums) also deteriorated to a modestly profitable 97.5 per cent.
IC TIP:
Buy
at
363p
But the real story is premium rates: in Catlin's casualty account, they rose 2 per year-on-year, and by 1 per cent in its energy & marine book, although they were down 1 per cent in the property and reinsurance books and 4 per cent in the speciality lines account.
Meanwhile, the conservatively focused investment book delivered a reasonable 1.8 per cent return in the half.
When: 19 February 2010
Price: 337p
Tip performance to date: +8 per cent
