Lancashire Q1 written premiums rise; Reaffirms California fire costs

(Sharecast News) - Specialist insurer Lancashire Holdings on Thursday reported higher first-quarter gross premiums written and insurance revenue and reaffirmed its exposure to the California wildfires. GPW in the three months to March 31 increased 12.7% to $712.1m with an underlying increase, excluding the impact of reinstatement premiums, of 6.6%.

Insurance revenue increased 8.7% to $458.9m. Lancashire still estimates its aggregate net ultimate losses related to the January California wildfires to be $145m - $165m.

"In a challenging environment, the resilience of the business is clear, with our greater scale and diversification, across classes and geographies, giving us the ability to better withstand volatility and deliver consistently healthy returns for our shareholders," said chief executive Alex Maloney.

"Absent the wildfires the underlying performance of the business is strong. As we outlined in March, in a severe loss year with a similar level of catastrophe and large risk losses as 2024, as well as the California wildfires, we would still expect to deliver a return on equity in the mid-teens for 2025."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com