LONDON (Reuters) – Insurer Hiscox Ltd plans to return 200 million pounds ($305.3 million) to investors after Superstorm Sandy failed to derail a bumper year of growth in its global underwriting business.
Bermuda-based Hiscox, whose policies cover everything from oil refineries to fine art, posted a more than 10-fold rise in pretax profit to 217.1 million pounds in the year to Dec. 31 from 17.3 million a year earlier and said it would share much of the sum with investors via a special dividend and share scheme.
Its shares climbed 2.5 percent to an all-time high of 510.75 pence after Chief Executive Bronek Masojada said his team's solid underwriting performance ensured 2012 felt like a more "normal" year, despite being the third-most expensive year on record for major catastrophes.
"We dealt with record flood activity in the UK, Superstorm Sandy in the U.S., fine art thefts inEurope, fires in substantial properties across the world and the sinking of Costa Concordia," Masojada said.
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