22 August 2022                                                 

Helios Underwriting plc

('Helios' or'the 'Company')

Quarterly Syndicate Mid Point Forecasts

Retained Capacity Increased; Profits Continue to Outperform against Lloyd's Market Average

Helios, the unique investment vehicle which acquires and consolidates private underwriting capacity at Lloyd's, announces the current mid-point forecasts in respect of its portfolio of syndicate capacity for the 2020 and 2021 years of account based on 2nd quarter 2022 estimates.

Nigel Hanbury, Chief Executive, commented:

"As the only listed consolidator of private capital at Lloyd's, Helios offers a unique opportunity for investors: growth and returns from exposure to the Lloyd's market through our strategy of acquiring the capacity of the better performing syndicates. Over recent years, our strategy has yielded superior results, with returns on average 5.1% better than the Lloyd's market itself.

"We have increased the retained capacity to £172m in recognition of market discipline and a harder market. We remain confident that we shall deliver improved results when compared to the Lloyd's market as a whole, and we look forward to creating further shareholder value as the benefits of the larger retained capacity flows through to the income statement."

Commentary

The mid-point forecast for 2020 year is continuing to improve, increasing the profit for the underwriting year to 1.84% notwithstanding the impact of the investment losses incurred on syndicate asset portfolios during this first six months of the year. The trend of outperformance against Lloyd's market average has increased to 1.59% (March 2022 - 1.01%), which demonstrates the quality of the portfolio which we have built.  

The mid-point estimate for the 2021 year has improved to 2.40%.  The underperformance against the  Lloyd's market has narrowed since March 2022 to 1.85% (March 2022 - underperformance of 2.30%). We continue to expect the gap in relative performance to narrow over the next 15 months as it has done in the past.   The syndicates supported by third party capital have been more conservative in their published estimates over the 36 months to the close of the year of account due to the transparency of each syndicate's ' result and the overall result of these syndicates has improved whilst the estimates of the aligned syndicates has remained unchanged.

Notes

1)    The table above shows the capacity as at 18th August 2022 splitting the capacity retained by Helios and the capacity that is ceded to quota share reinsurers. 

2)    The mid-point forecasts for 2020 and 2021 years of account as of 2nd quarter 2022 have been aggregated at syndicate level from estimates supplied by managing agents.

3)    The impact on Helios will be as follows:

a.    The change in the mid point estimates on the retained capacity over the year will be recognised in the Helios income statement in the year to 31^st December 2022.

b.    The overall change in the result will be recognised by Helios in cash at the close of the year of account.

For further information, please contact:

Helios Underwriting plc

Nigel Hanbury - Chief Executive                                                               07787 530 404 / nigel.hanbury@huwplc.com

Arthur Manners - Chief Financial Officer                                               07754 965 917

Shore Capital

Robert Finlay                                                                                     020 77408 4080

David Coaten

Henry Willcocks

Buchanan

Helen Tarbet / Henry Wilson / George Beale                       +44 (0)7872 604 453

                                                                                                                +44 (0)20 7466 5111

About Helios

Helios 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). Helios trades within the Lloyd's insurance market writing approximately £233m of capacity for the 2022 account. The portfolio provides a good spread of business being concentrated in property insurance and reinsurance. For further information please visit www.huwplc.com.