Last checked at 16 Feb 2015 07:00
16 February 2015
Helios Underwriting plc
("HUW" or the "Company")
Acquisition of Lloyd's Limited Liability Vehicle
HUW is pleased to announce that, in line with its strategy of increasing underwriting capacity through acquisition, it has agreed to acquire Updown Underwriting Limited, a limited liability member of Lloyd's ("LLV") for a total consideration of £0.6 million in cash and 429,839 new ordinary shares in the Company. The 2015 underwriting capacity of the LLV is £0.9 million; this compares with HUW's 2015 capacity of £21.4 million prior to this acquisition. Completion is subject to change of control consent from Lloyd's. The LLV participates in a spread of Lloyd's syndicates broadly similar to HUW's own participation.
Commenting upon the acquisition, Nigel Hanbury, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, said:
"We are delighted to have agreed a further LLV acquisition which will further increase our underwriting capacity. This is in line with our stated strategy of acquiring corporate members as suitable opportunities arise. We continue to believe that there remain significant opportunities for further growth available to the Company."
For further information please contact:
HUW Nigel Hanbury - Chief Executive
|
020 7863 6655 / nigel.hanbury@huwplc.com
|
Smith & Williamson Corporate Finance David Jones
| 020 7131 4000 |
Westhouse Securities Robert Finlay
| 020 7601 6100 |
About HUW
HUW provides a limited liability direct investment into the Lloyd's insurance market and is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market (ticker: HUW). HUW's subsidiary underwriting vehicles trade within the Lloyd's insurance market as corporate members of Lloyd's writing approximately £21 million of capacity for the 2015 account. The portfolio provides a good spread of classes of business being concentrated in property insurance and reinsurance. For further information please visit www.huwplc.com.
Additional information
Updown Underwriting Limited ("Updown") is a limited liability member of Lloyd's which HUW has agreed to acquire from Nicholas Wentworth Stanley; in the year ended 31 December 2013, Updown made a profit before tax of £0.2 million on gross premiums written of £0.8 million. Updown's expected net asset value at completion is approximately £1.3 million, including underwriting capacity with an estimated market value of £0.4 million.
Set out below are Updown's 2012 and 2013 open years of account forecasts:
YOA | Updown syndicate capacity (£'000) | Forecast of syndicate profit (30 September 2014) | ||
Mid point (£'000) | Mid point (%) | Range (%) | ||
2012 | 902 | 114 | 12.63% | 9.38 - 15.87% |
2013 | 927 | 87 | 9.40% | 5.09 - 13.70% |
Source: Syndicate data and HUW analysis (before early release)
Set out below are details of Updown's syndicate participations for the 2012 to 2015 years of account:
YOA | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |||||
Syndicate | (£'000) | (%)* | (£'000) | (%)* | (£'000) | (%)* | (£'000) | (%)* | |
33 | 88 | 9.7% | 88 | 9.5% | 92 | 10.0% | 92 | 10.7% | |
218 | 52 | 5.8% | 52 | 5.6% | 52 | 5.6% | 42 | 4.8% | |
386 | 24 | 2.7% | 24 | 2.6% | 24 | 2.6% | 21 | 2.4% | |
510 | 137 | 15.2% | 137 | 14.8% | 137 | 14.8% | 137 | 15.9% | |
609 | 41 | 4.6% | 41 | 4.4% | 41 | 4.4% | 41 | 4.8% | |
623 | 111 | 12.3% | 117 | 12.6% | 126 | 13.6% | 117 | 13.6% | |
727 | 63 | 7.0% | 63 | 6.8% | 63 | 6.8% | 63 | 7.3% | |
958 | 50 | 5.5% | 39 | 4.2% | 31 | 3.4% | 33 | 3.8% | |
1176 | 38 | 4.2% | 38 | 4.1% | 38 | 4.1% | 38 | 4.4% | |
2010 | 105 | 11.6% | 105 | 11.3% | 105 | 11.3% | 92 | 10.6% | |
2014 | - | - | - | - | 46 | 5.0% | 40 | 4.6% | |
2791 | 108 | 11.9% | 108 | 11.6% | 95 | 10.2% | 84 | 9.7% | |
6103 | 21 | 2.3% | 26 | 2.8% | 19 | 2.1% | 8 | 0.9% | |
6104 | 28 | 3.1% | 36 | 3.9% | 36 | 3.9% | 36 | 4.1% | |
6106 | 18 | 2.0% | 21 | 3.5% | - | - | - | - | |
6110 | 18 | 2.0% | 33 | 3.5% | - | - | - | - | |
6111 | - | - | - | - | 20 | 2.2% | 19 | 2.2% | |
Total | 902 | 100.0% | 927 | 100.0% | 927 | 100.0% | 863 | 100.0% | |
* Percentage of total syndicate portfolio