Lloyd’s of London insurer Hiscox has reported a record profit for the year ended 31 December 2024, with pre-tax earnings reaching $685.4m (£541.5m), a 9.5 per cent increase from the previous year.
The insurance group’s net insurance contract written premiums rose to $3.7bn (£2.9bn) in 2023, up from $3.6bn (£2.8bn) in 2023.
Insurance contract written premiums grew by 3.7 per cent to $4.8bn (£3.8bn), largely driven by growth in its retail division.
Return on equity stood at 19.8 per cent, down from 21.8 per cent in 2023.
Hiscox also reported an investment profit of $383.9m (£303.3m), nearly unchanged from the previous year’s $384.4m (£303.7m).
The group’s combined ratio, a measure of underwriting profitability, improved slightly to 84.7 per cent on a discounted basis, from 85.5 per cent the previous year.
Hiscox announced a 19.6 per cent increase in its final dividend per share, bringing the full-year total to 43.1 cents (34p) per share, up 14.9 per cent year-on-year.
Aki Hussain, chief executive officer of Hiscox, said: “The group has delivered another set of excellent results and a second consecutive year of record profits.
Our retail business continues to build broad-based growth and earnings momentum, and our big-ticket portfolio has again delivered an outstanding performance, leading to a strong return on equity in an active loss year.
“This earnings momentum underpins substantial capital generation, creating the flexibility to pursue multiple growth opportunities and return 10 per cent of equity to shareholders through a combination of a 20 per cent step-up in the final dividend per share and a $175m share buyback.
“This demonstrates both the power of – and confidence in – the outlook for our diversified business.
I would like to thank all of my Hiscox colleagues for their dedication in delivering another strong year.”