Conduit announces first-half results

Global reinsurer Conduit Holdings Limited (CHL) has announced its results for the first half. The company reported estimated ultimate premiums written of $333.1 million and gross premiums written of $210.3 million.

The company noted indicative renewal rate changes estimated at +14% pro property, +17% for casualty and +17% for specialty. It estimated an incurred loss of $6 million as a result of Winter Storm Uri, including the impact of reinstatement premiums, and a net loss ratio of 70% (57.2% excluding Winter Storm Uri).

In addition, it reported loss on equity of 1.2% and announced an interim dividend of $0.18 per common share declared.

“I am proud of what we have achieved in our first six months as an operating business and we could not have asked for more from our growing team,” said Neil Eckert, group executive chairman of CHL. “We are delivering on the plan we set out in our IPO last year and continue on our mission to build Conduit into a leading modern pure-play reinsurance franchise.”

“In our first half-year of operations as a global reinsurer, we have hit the ground running and been accepted as a disciplined and supportive reinsurance partner by our brokers and clients, who have shown us overwhelming support,” said Trevor Carvey, group CEO for Conduit. “We are building a strong team culture of technical discipline, collaboration and transparency, which we believe is well-received by our customers.”

Carvey said the company had managed to avoid significant exposures to the large losses that were experienced by the wider reinsurance industry in the first half, and expects its ultimate premium income to be broadly in line with the estimates it previously set out.

“We have made excellent progress so far, but there is still lots of hard work ahead of us,” Carvey said.

Read more: Conduit Re reveals Q1 2021 results

“We are pleased with the progress we have made with the operational build-out and development of our systems,” said Elaine Whelan, group chief financial officer. “Our IPO funds are now fully invested in accordance with our investment strategy and we will maintain a high-quality, highly liquid investment portfolio to support our underwriting activities.”

In the first seven months of its operation since its IPO, Conduit has:

• Established the underwriting discipline, culture and focus intended when the company was founded.
• Selectively written about 165 reinsurance contracts of the approximately 700 contracts it has analyzed, which are estimated to deliver $333.1 million in ultimate premiums written.
• Successfully placed its outward reinsurance program to manage catastrophe exposures in line with the company’s risk tolerances.
• Built its team, with all key function roles filled.
• Delivered phase one of its operating plan to build a modern, cloud-based operating and underwriting platform.
• Fully deployed IPO funds in line with the company’s conservative investment strategy.

Conduit said its combined ratio of 127.2% and negative ROE of 1.2% reflect the start-up nature of the business.