LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE.L), a provider of insurance and reinsurance products, reported Thursday that its first-half profit before tax declined to $40.5 million from last year's $74.9 million.
Profit after tax was $39.1 million, down from $75.8 million a year ago. Earnings per share were $0.19, down from $0.38 a year ago.
Operating earnings per share were $0.21, compared to $0.39 last year.
Gross premiums written increased 9.5 percent in the first six months of 2019 to $429.6 million from prior year's $392.5 million. Net premiums written, meanwhile, dropped to $222.6 million from $234.0 million last year.
Total net revenue was $240 million, up from $234.1 million last year.
Alex Maloney, Group Chief Executive Officer, said, 'Looking ahead, the recent evidence of better market discipline and pricing will take time to feed through to our bottom line.'
Further, Lancashire announced that its Board of Directors has declared an interim dividend for 2019 of $0.05, or approximately 0.04 pounds.
In London, Lancashire shares were trading at 709.50 pence, up 1.72 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX