LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares dropped in Hastings Group Holdings PLC on Thursday as despite its "disciplined pricing strategy", the group expects its loss ratio for 2018 to be at the lower end of its target range of 75% to 79%.
Shares in the FTSE 250-listed technology-focused insurance provider fell 10% to 198.90 pence on Thursday.
The outlook is reinforced by the expectations that claims inflation is expected to continue to exceed premium inflation in an ongoing competitive market, due to falling average market premiums. The loss ratio is anticipated to move to the middle of the target range for 2019.
For the nine months to the end of September, net revenue rose by 7% to GBP574.1 million from GBP538.3 million for the same period the year before. Gross written premiums grew by 3% to GBP738.5 million from GBP714.3 million.
Live customer policies at the end of September was 4% higher than the prior year at 2.7 million from 2.6 million.
"We have 2.7 million customers, an increase of 4% from last year, which we achieved whilst remaining true to our pricing discipline and increasing premiums in a competitive market. We remain well positioned in a very large market with 31 million cars on the road, growing consumer adoption of digital channels and continued media and regulatory focus on consumer switching," said Chief Executive Officer Toby van der Meer.
