Tellworth British Recove... Share Discussion Threads

[danieldruff2] 16/2/2015 21:45

Woo - I was hoping for a long stretch as a Brit shareholder, but I might settle for a quick profit :-)

Anybody got any views on a replacement insurer in the portfolio if Brit is taken off market?

[guernseymoney] 16/2/2015 20:23

from FT:

The private equity backers of Brit are in detailed talks to sell the FTSE 250 insurance company less than a year after it launched on the stock exchange, according to people familiar with the matter.

Bankers said several parties — including at least one based in North America — had expressed an interest in recent weeks in buying Brit, which is majority owned by buyout groups Apollo and CVC and has a market capitalisation of £1.1bn.

An announcement about the future of the Lloyd’s of London insurer, which provides a wide range of specialist cover for areas from shipping to kidnapping, could come as early as Monday night, the people said. All parties declined to comment.

A transaction would be the latest sign that mergers and acquisitions activity in the specialist insurance and reinsurance sector is heating up.

Intense competition has depressed premiums in important lines of business, such as catastrophe reinsurance, encouraging underwriters to consolidate.

New York-listed XL last month agreed to buy the largest Lloyd’s insurer, Catlin, for about £2.8bn. Three weeks ago, two New York listed insurers — Axis Capital and PartnerRe — agreed an $11bn merger.

The sale of Brit could allow its private equity backers to generate higher returns than if they were to sell down their stakes further on the public markets.

Apollo and CVC sold a quarter of their stake in Brit in an initial public offering last spring that raised £240m. The duo had acquired the company for £888m in 2011.

Shares in Brit struggled after listing at 240p, slumping to as low as 204¾p within a month of the IPO.

The insurer’s stock price has since recovered as deal activity has underscored the attraction of Lloyd’s underwriters to prospective buyers. The shares, which have also been supported by the prospect of a chunky dividend payout, closed at 274.4p on Monday.

Apollo retains a 40 per cent stake and CVC a 34 per cent in the insurer, whose largest institutional shareholders include the BAE Systems pension fund and CCLA, which manages investments for local authorities and charities.

Brit, chaired by the former Lloyd’s of London chief executive Richard Ward, has seen its shares continue to trade at a discount to its London-listed peers. While the company trades at a premium of 43 per cent to book value, Hiscox is on 81 per cent and Beazley 69 per cent.

The insurer is expected to pay a special dividend when it discloses its debut results as a public company next week.

Numis has pencilled in a special dividend of 4.2p a share on top of a basic payout of 18.7p. The broker forecasts Brit’s annual pre-tax profits will rise from £106m to £155m.

Bankers are expecting more dealmaking in the industry. Smaller reinsurers of natural catastrophes that operate in Bermuda, and at the Lloyd’s of London market, are under particular strain.

[bsdjj] 16/2/2015 20:01

In takeover talks according to the Telegraph

[speedsgh] 12/2/2015 09:40

BRIT being buoyed by LRE results today?

[garycook] 02/2/2015 08:49

The Final Dividend should be 12.50 with the Interim paid at 6.25 The total Divi for the year 18.75 as I read on this board post 33 on the 28th June by eeza when I purchased.

[jong] 30/1/2015 15:37

Some Broker Targets :

hxxp://www.lulegacy.com/2015/01/23/canaccord-genuity-increases-brit-plc-price-target-to-gbx-270-brit/

[guernseymoney] 30/1/2015 15:33

I too like the yield, look forward to posting more when results out. Best wishes to all.

[scottishfield] 30/1/2015 15:10

Can't remember what alerted me back in may/june last year; certainly the yield would have been a consideration.

[guernseymoney] 30/1/2015 14:21

Thanks so much speedsgh for those links, appreciated.

I bought in earlier this year, it was a toss up between Brit and either SwissRe/Zurich Ins, but liked the Brit presentations I'd watched (the American CEO has charisma).

[speedsgh] 30/1/2015 14:01

Dividend Policy from last year's Admission Document -

"The Board believes that the Group’s RoNTA in 2012 and 2013 coupled with the capital buffer demonstrate the ability of the business to support a sustainable regular dividend for shareholders. The Board expects that any additional capital not required for profitable growth opportunities will likely be returned to shareholders, as has been the case in most recent years. The Group does not have a progressive dividend policy.

Dividends (to the extent paid) are linked to past performance and future prospects, expected cash flows and working capital needs, as well as the availability of distributable reserves. The Board currently expects to
declare a base interim dividend of £25 million for 2014, representing one-third of the expected annual dividend and paid in the third quarter of this year. The Group would expect to pay the remainder of the annual dividend in early 2015. The Group expects the regular dividend to be supplemented by special dividends when excess capital cannot be attractively deployed in order to maintain surplus capital within the target range of 120-140% of management entity capital requirements."

[speedsgh] 30/1/2015 13:55

Was listed previously on LSE as Brit Insurance. Then was taken private by Achilles Netherlands Holdings B.V in 2011.

Potted history here -

Think I noticed them mentioned again in IC not long after they re-listed last yr.

[guernseymoney] 30/1/2015 13:43

I only know about Brit from Investors Chronicle, how did everyone else discover it?

[speedsgh] 30/1/2015 13:37

Based on the date of the results, I would guess ex-div for final payment in Mar/Apr, payment in May.

April tends to be a pretty quiet month for div payments + many of the other insurers pay out in May. Not really too fussed but looking fwd to the results.

[johnroger] 30/1/2015 13:34

Final likely due in March, about 18p based on Sharescope info

[guernseymoney] 30/1/2015 13:26

Per their website:

•Brit will be presenting their 2014 Year End Results on 25 February 2015 at 9.30am.

Look fwd to some good numbers, not sure when to expect dividend though.

[speedsgh] 30/1/2015 13:18

Strong move again today.

[v11slr] 16/1/2015 08:47

Maiden purchase today. Looking forward to the prelims in just over a month.

[nw99] 18/12/2014 13:51

Chart breakout

[scottishfield] 17/12/2014 14:30

yes saw that nm99

[nw99] 17/12/2014 14:28

Catlin taken out good news here

[scottishfield] 12/12/2014 16:38

v good performance of late. well done BRIT

[neilyb675] 12/11/2014 15:48

all priced in ?