Shares in RSA Insurance Group PLC (LON:RSA) found gains on Thursday as the insurer said its profits and underwriting quality improved in the first nine months of the year.
In a trading update on Thursday, the FTSE 100-listed company revealed that its written premiums were flat at £4.9bn in the year-to-date as a 3% decline in its UK segment wiped out gains of 4% and 2% respectively in Canada and Scandinavia.
READ: RSA Insurance gets a boost as it reports first quarter rise in profit and premiums
The insurer's planned repricing in the UK also resulted in an £8mln restructuring charge being booked in the last three months.
Underwriting quality improved, however, with weather losses accounting for 2.6% of net earned premiums, down from 2.7% last year thanks to a quieter season in the UK, and a broad improvement in non-catastrophe losses.
Stephen Hester, RSA’s chief executive called the results strong, saying that underwriting has “sharply improved”, with all its regional businesses contributing.
But, Hester added: “There is lots more to do - not least to finish 2019 well, with momentum into next year."
In a note to clients, analysts at Shore Capital said that RSA's large loss ratio - “often a weak point" - which shrank to 9.9% from 11.2% in the same period last year, bodes well for the group’s profits.
The analysts repeated a ‘hold’ rating on RSA, saying: “If this can be maintained, the results for 2019F should be on track to meet targets.”
RSA shares were up 3.2% to 549p in early trading on Thursday.