Brit Insurance Share Discussion Threads

[rambutan2] 20/1/2003 14:04

a snippet nicked from a good piece posted by gardenboy on the ilv thread...

However, speculation that Mr Wood may be preparing an improved bid of 105p to 110p a share helped send Cox 9 per cent higher on Thursday.
Graham Neale, a director at Killik & Co, says this tie-up would make sense, creating a vertically integrated model by combining Mr Wood's strength in distribution with Cox's product. Before Christmas the broker ushered clients into Brit Insurance, partly because Brit has already developed such a model.

[priscilla] 19/1/2003 17:34

I've just put BRE as one of my stockpicks for the cafe competition - it's a relief to read your edit, rambutan!

[rambutan2] 19/1/2003 17:28

oops. yes. will edit!
bre now 172nd largest co and climbing.

[gardenboy] 18/1/2003 23:43

harley,

I'm hoping rb2 means he doesn't see any reason why there shouldn't be a further move towards £1 this quarter.

I'm sure we will get clarification from him soon about this.

[harleymaxwell] 18/1/2003 20:08

u mean they should be a £ end quarter

[rambutan2] 18/1/2003 17:11

closed week above 80p with mkt cap over 600m. v big volume with over 13m trades on wed and topping 6m on other days. also noted that lansdowne partners (good hedge fund managers) topped up to take them over 3% and notifiable which dont usually do. dont see any reason why there shouldn't be a further move towards £1 this quarter.

[gardenboy] 03/1/2003 09:57

The Independent's Portfolio
02 January 2003
..............."We are also staying with one of our tips of last year, British Insurance Holdings (76p), the Lloyd's underwriter. Well capitalised after two fund-raisings it is enjoying strong new business wins and rising premiums. This should continue this year."

-just thought I'd point this out - gb

[rambutan2] 20/12/2002 11:38

Brit Insurance Holdings PLC backs new underwriting agency
Augsburg Re

Brit Insurance Holdings PLC ('BRIT'), through its underwriting subsidiary Brit
Syndicates Limited, has granted a binding authority to Augsburger Ruck Kontor
GmbH ('Augsburg Re') enabling it to underwrite aviation non-proportional
reinsurance for and on behalf of Syndicate 2987. It is estimated that Augsburg
Re will write £30 million of premium income during 2003.

Klaus Gierstner, CEO and underwriter for Augsburg Re, is a respected underwriter
with many years' experience in the aviation reinsurance industry. He is joined
by Simon Cloney who has 18 years' experience in the insurance industry and has
focused on aviation reinsurance over the last 5 years.

Dane Douetil, CEO of Brit Syndicates Limited, said: 'This particular market
segment appears to be short of capacity. We are pleased to support Klaus
Gierstner as our response to this opportunity'.

Please see Augsburg Re's press release which is attached. This gives further
details of the transaction.


20 December 2002

Augsburger Ruck Kontor GmbH

Augsburger Ruck Kontor GmbH ('Augsburg Re') has today concluded an
agreement with Lloyd's of London Syndicate 2987, managed by Brit Syndicates
Limited, a subsidiary of Brit Insurance Holdings PLC. The agreement enables
Augsburg Re to underwrite aviation non-proportional reinsurance for and on
behalf of Syndicate 2987.

Augsburg Re is an underwriting agency established by Klaus Gierstner and Simon
Cloney in Augsburg, Germany. The company is an approved Lloyd's coverholder in
respect of this agreement acting through a Lloyd's binding authority.

Brit Insurance Holdings PLC ('Brit')

Brit Insurance Holdings PLC is an insurance holding company that writes both
direct insurance and reinsurance through Lloyd's and its FSA regulated insurance
company, Brit Insurance Limited. In 2003, Brit Insurance is forecast to write
in excess of £1 billion of premium income (gross), of which approximately £850
million will be for its own balance sheet. Augsburg Re will principally write
reinsurance protections of direct writers and will write an estimated premium
income of £30 million in 2003.

Neil Eckert, CEO of Brit Insurance Holdings PLC, said: 'We are delighted to
enter into this agreement with Augsburg Re. Klaus Gierstner, its CEO, is one of
the industry's more successful operators. Market conditions appear to be very
favourable and we are pleased with the initial response from brokers'.

Augsburg Re has been working with Brit's management team to put in place a
management and reporting regime to ensure that Augsburg Re conforms to Brit's
stringent underwriting guidelines. Augsburg Re will report its underwriting
position, in detail, on a weekly basis. In addition, it will retain Independent
Market Solutions Ltd, a respected binding agreement auditor, to examine its
underwriting premiums, claims and outwards reinsurance arrangements ensuring
that they conform to Brit's specifications.

It is our intention for the company structure to remain transparent and open to
our trading partners.

[mr ashley james] 02/12/2002 08:16

Rambutan,

Another one on the up 0.50p

[rambutan2] 29/11/2002 00:15

Looking good! Cant get more bullish than Mr Eckerts statement.

[mr ashley james] 28/11/2002 14:17

Ranbutan,

Pretty bullish stuff from Neil Eckert IMHO;-



Cheers

Ash

[priscilla] 28/11/2002 08:17

LONDON (AFX) - BRIT Insurance Holdings PLC said premium income forecasts for
the 2003 year of account for all its underwriting activities show strong
projected growth across classes written by the group with an overall total that
exceeds 1 bln stg for the first time.
Group estimated Gross Written Premium for Lloyd's and Non-Lloyds is seen at
1.015 bln stg for 2003, up from 700 mln in 2002. A particularly strong increase
is seen in property and casualty GWP from 184 mln in 2002 to 400 mln in 2003.
Updated 2000 and 2001 year of account syndicate forecasts at Sept 30 2002
show no change with a range of 7.5-12.5 pct of capacity for 2000 and a range of
9-14 pct of capacity for 2001.
The net loss reserved of 134 mln usd by the group in relation to the US
Terror Attack remains substantially unchanged from previous figures reported,
the company said.
Neil Eckert, chief executive officer of Brit Insurance Holdings PLC said:
"Market rates continue to improve in most sectors. Following our recent
successful fundraising, I believe that Brit is exceptionally well positioned to
take full advantage of the best market conditions we have seen."
[e-mail]
slm/

[mr ashley james] 15/11/2002 17:48

Rambutan,

Personally I am only really interested in ILVs sub £250m, and really sub £100m.

I have noticed companies which are large do not neccesarily rise as fast, and fall just as quickly.

It really is not my bag companies of this size.

I sure BRE will do well, but I get a better bang for my buck playing in the £10m to £100m m/c area.

Market maker spreads are too greedy to play slow moving large caps, the insurance market market makers charging 5p plus is just way OTT IMHO!

Best regards

Ashley

[rambutan2] 15/11/2002 16:31

Ashley, i know ive said it before, but my theory is that when the herd finally charge into the ilvs it will be BRE which will be the one they go for due to its liquidity and size. Once the share price hits a £ it really will be starting to get large.

[mr ashley james] 15/11/2002 16:01

Rambutan,

I have always liked BRIT, I think I am right in saying largest ILV by market cap now.

Very weird charts IMHO!



Best regards

Ashley

[rambutan2] 15/11/2002 15:55

thanks for that GG. Baring any catastrophes i believe BRE soon be heading towards a £. Am also a fan of CHU, GOS, WUN and SVB which are all worth a look and with their different takes on the same theme.

[goodgrief] 15/11/2002 15:33

This article describes the sector's prospects rather than specifically BRE's...

Citywire has uncovered widespread buying by astute investors at several Lloyd's of London insurance vehicles which suggests the sector could be due an imminent upturn.


The names range from Neil Woodford to Carl Stick and Patrick Evershed - in other words some of the best in the business - suggesting a consensus among the smartest investment brains that this is a good place to be.

Lloyd's insurance companies suffer from a lack of widespread knowledge about what they do. They operate in the world of high risk cover, ranging from marine and aviation to non-marine business, a sector which includes such diverse elements as fire, windstorm and earthquake, theft and extortion, product liability, professional negligence and dread disease.

Nearly two-thirds of Lloyd's business is carried out outside of the UK through licences in 64 territories. It provides 13% of the world's marine insurance from yachts to oil rigs and 29% of the world's aviation insurance.

The market was hit hard by the attacks on the US and subsequent attacks have made investors wary of companies exposed to Lloyd's. However the attacks triggered a strong upgrade in the premiums insurance companies charge which should bring improved trading in the near future.

Several of the quoted Lloyd's companies have been busy raising funds in recent months in a bid to increase the amount of business they can underwrite and take advantage of buoyant trading conditions.

Numis Securities analyst Nick Johnson says Lloyd's companies attract top investors because they are asset backed and in an outstandingly good trading environment.

'The outlook is good for the foreseeable future,' he told us. 'The market has suffered because it has been digesting the stock issues which have satisfied the demand from institutions. However with not many more issues expected share prices should begin to rise.'

Johnson favours Goshawk Insurance Holdings (GOS) , Amlin (AML) and Beazley at the moment. Beazley was floated yesterday by Numis at 73p and closed the day at 78p, indicating the market's appetite for such stocks at the moment.

Several shrewd investors, across a whole spectrum of funds from recovery to special situations, have bought into Lloyd's companies in recent weeks.

As recently as Friday Neil Woodford's huge £2.3 billion Invesco Perpetual High Income fund added to its holding at Kiln (KIN) where he now holds 9% of the company. Woodford has a AAA Citywire Manager rating for his risk-adjusted performance.

The team at Aberforth are also keen on Lloyd's companies at the moment. Earlier this month the Aberforth UK Small Companies unit trust bought 1.34 million shares in Goshawk Insurance Holdings to give it 5.2 million shares.

Other shrewd fund managers with stakes in Goshawk include Patrick Evershed of New Star, Carl Stick of Rathbone and Roger Whiteoak of Framlington.

Wellington Underwriting (WLN) has raised money twice this year to boost its underwriting capacity and three shrewd investors took part in last week's £120 million fund raising.

Evershed, the AAA-rated manager of the New Star Select Opportunities unit trust was the biggest mover, taking a little more than 1 million shares. He had sold his previous holding of 718,000 shares in September.

Ashton Bradbury of Old Mutual and Bob Brown's Matrix Quantock unit trust took 843,000 shares and 260,000 shares respectively.

Other companies to have attracted attention from shrewd investors and directors include Brit Insurance Holdings (BRE) , Hiscox (HSX) , Atrium Underwriting (AUW) , Amlin (AML) and Hardy Underwriting (HDU) .

Hardy has also been building a stake in Atrium, buying up a further 5 million shares at 75p each last week to increase its total stake in the company to 25.3%.

Management is also doing its thing. Matthew Fosh, the recently appointed chief executive of SVB Holdings, spent £340,000 on Monday to pick up his first 850,000 shares in the company at 40p per share.

The sheer weight of shrewd interest in Lloyd's vehicles in recent weeks makes for a compelling argument to look more closely at the sector. The companies highlighted are mostly hovering at the middle of their price ranges for this year.

However with most of the fund raising activity over and companies armed with more underwriting capability and enjoying higher premiums, share prices in the sector could be ready to fly.

Citywire will run a more detailed investigation of some of the companies named above in the coming days.

[goodgrief] 15/11/2002 10:28

Two directors piled in yesterday, buying £425K and £51K respectively.
Thought I might just do the same ...

[rambutan2] 04/11/2002 17:12

10m traded today and up a penny.
this one has to be the obvious way for institutions to play Lloyds due to size and liquidity.

[rambutan2] 16/10/2002 15:08

Price now 62p to buy, views on how far it might drop until excess shares are soaked up?

BRIT Ins Hldgs - Result of Equity Issue
RNS Number:5552C
BRIT Insurance Holdings PLC
16 October 2002


BRIT INSURANCE HOLDINGS PLC

("Brit" or "the Company")

PLACING AND OPEN OFFER

On 24 September 2002, the Company announced a fully underwritten placing and
open offer of 319,109,052 new ordinary shares of 25 pence each in the Company ("
New Ordinary Shares") at 64 pence per share ("the Placing and Open Offer").

Under the Placing, Numis conditionally placed 101,562,500 of the New Ordinary
Shares and Collins Stewart conditionally placed 217,546,552 New Ordinary Shares,
in each case subject to clawback to satisfy valid applications made by
qualifying shareholders and stockholders under the Open Offer.

An extraordinary general meeting of the Company has been convened for 12.00 p.m.
on Thursday 17 October 2002 (the "EGM"), to consider, inter alia, resolutions to
approve the Placing and Open Offer.

The Company announces that the Open Offer closed on October 15 2002 at 3.00 p.m.
Under the Open Offer, valid acceptances have been received from shareholders in
respect of 115,841,245 New Ordinary Shares representing approximately 36.3% of
the Offer Shares. The Placing and Open Offer remains conditional, inter alia,
upon its approval by shareholders at the EGM.

Application has been made to the UK Listing Authority for the New Ordinary
Shares to be admitted to the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to
the London Stock Exchange plc for the New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to
trading on the London Stock Exchange.

[rambutan2] 07/10/2002 15:45

Once the new shares are issued the mkt cap of BRE will be on the verge of joining the top 200 cos and could quickly climb much higher. It really will be one of the big boys and well on the radar of pan euro fund managers. With the increasingly disastrous state of continental insurers making them one to avoid or get out of, perhaps BRE could get a very nice boost as the stock of choice for a play on the rocketing general insurance rates. Just a thought.

[rambutan2] 25/9/2002 20:56

just spotted this:

[rambutan2] 24/9/2002 10:19

Looking good – A combined operating ratio of 90.2 pct means it is writing insurance at a profit -- unlike many in the sector – stands out to me. What do the more expert Lloyds folk make of it and the accompanying results.

LONDON (AFX) - Brit Insurance Holdings said that it plans to raise 204.2 mln
stg of new cash via a placing and open offer to fund its growth ambitions.
Next year the group plans to write business of around 1 bln stg, some 850
mln of which it will do on its own account.
"With the added strength to our balance sheet, our underwriting teams should
be well placed to take advantage of the very strong market conditions which we
are experiencing," said chief executive Neil Eckert.
The Lloyd's of London insurer, which will soon join the FTSE 250, said the
open offer will be on two-for-three basis and the cash call is being fully
underwritten by stock brokers Collins Stewart and Numis Securities.
It is not the first time the group has tapped the market for new cash. Last
year it raised 154 mln stg to bolster its finances and cover its September 11
losses.
Brit followed fellow Lloyd's insurer Hiscox PLC to the market. It plans to
issue equity worth some 110.5 mln stg.
The past year has seen unprecedented growth for specialist insurers such as
Brit and Hiscox, as business has boomed and premium rates have firmed in the
wake of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
Their tap on the market is small in comparison to the life company Legal &
General Group, which is raising some 786 mln stg from investors to fund its
expansion plans.
But even that is dwarfed by 2.5 bln usd Swiss insurance giant Zurich
Financial Services wants shareholders to stump up to repair its battered balance
sheet.
And the Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group PLC of the UK is also expected
to come to the market for as much as 1 bln stg to shore up its finances and
underwrite its business aspirations.
Brit today was keen to show that it is among the healthier insurers in a
sector whose assets have been hard hit by declining equity market valuations.
A combined operating ratio of 90.2 pct means it is writing insurance at a
profit -- unlike many in the sector.
Interim results published alongside details of the fundraiser show Brit
gross written premiums of 397 mln stg, an increase of 94 pct.
The group generated a technical profit of 18.2 mln for the six months to
June 30 as compared with 5.1 mln for the first half of 2001 and an operating
profit based on the long term rate of investment return of 3 mln, which was down
on 7.8 mln posted in the first half of 2001.
Taking into account unrealised losses on the company's share investments,
Brit dropped to an operating loss of 3.7 mln stg compared to a year-earlier 2.1
mln profit.