Castelnau Group Regulatory News (CGL)

4 Jan 2007 16:48

Catlin Group Limited04 January 2007 4 January 2007 CATLIN GROUP LIMITED TRADING STATEMENT HAMILTON, Bermuda - Catlin Group Limited ('CGL': London Stock Exchange), theinternational specialty property/casualty insurer and reinsurer, today providesa trading update. 2006 was a remarkably catastrophe-free year, and claims experience for thenon-catastrophe-exposed portfolio has been generally favourable. The Group'sunderwriting portfolio performed strongly overall. The 2007 renewal season has been broadly in line with expectations. Whilst ratesand conditions for catastrophe-exposed business continued to be robust, ratesfor some non-catastrophe-exposed classes continued to be under pressure. Ratesare currently adequate for most classes of business underwritten by Catlin, andManagement looks ahead to 2007 with optimism. Catlin's offer to acquire Wellington Underwriting plc was declared whollyunconditional at 5.45pm on 18 December 2006. By 8am the following day, allmembers of the combined underwriting staff were working from a new,purpose-built underwriting floor on the ground level of Catlin's London office,and the full integration of underwriting operations has since been completed.The integration of financial and support functions is on schedule and will becompleted by the end of January, and all staff in London are expected to berelocated by that time. Catlin is also in the process of refinancing through the debt capital marketsthe US$500 million bridge facility that was used to finance the acquisition ofWellington. Stephen Catlin, chief executive of Catlin Group Limited, said: "We are looking forward to 2007 with confidence and enthusiasm in the light ofour successful acquisition of Wellington, the rapid integration of the twobusinesses and our strong performance in 2006. The enlarged Catlin Group willbenefit from the attractive market environment that exists in many of thespecialty classes of insurance and reinsurance that we underwrite worldwide." - ends - For more information contact: Media Relations:James Burcke, Tel: +44 (0)20 7458 5710Head of Communications, London Mobile: +44 (0)7958 767 738 E-mail: james.burcke@catlin.com Liz Morley, Maitland Tel: +44 (0)20 7379 5151 E-mail: emorley@maitland.co.uk Investor Relations:William Spurgin, Tel: +44 (0)20 7458 5726Head of Investor Relations, London Mobile: +44 (0)7710 314 365 E-mail: william.spurgin@catlin.com Notes to editors: 1. Catlin Group Limited, headquartered in Bermuda, is an international specialist property/casualty insurer and reinsurer writing more than 30 classes of business worldwide. Catlin wrote gross premiums of US$1.4 billion in 2005 and more than US$900 million in the six months ended 30 June 2006. Catlin shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: CGL). More information about Catlin can be found at www.catlin.com. 2. On 18 December 2006, Catlin's offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Wellington Underwriting plc was declared unconditional. The enlarged Catlin Group has a total net asset value of US$1.9 billion. 3. Catlin operates four underwriting platforms: • The Catlin Syndicate at Lloyd's of London (Syndicate 2003) is a recognised leader of numerous classes of specialty insurance and reinsurance. The Catlin Syndicate is the largest at Lloyd's in 2007 based on premium capacity of up to £1.25 billion. • Catlin Bermuda (Catlin Insurance Company Ltd.), which underwrites property treaty and casualty treaty reinsurance and property and casualty insurance. • Catlin UK (Catlin Insurance Company (UK) Ltd.), which specialises in underwriting commercial non-life insurance for UK clients. It also writes other classes of business written by the Catlin Syndicate. • Catlin US, which encompasses Catlin's operations based in the United States. Catlin US includes Catlin Insurance Company Inc., an admitted US insurer which will commence operations soon, and Wellington Specialty Insurance Company, a non-admitted insurer which will soon be rebranded under the Catlin banner. Catlin US has more than 15 underwriting offices in the United States. 4. Catlin also operates offices worldwide which allow Catlin underwriters to work closely with local policyholders and brokers. The offices are located in Canada (Toronto and Calgary), Australia (Sydney), Singapore,Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Hong Kong, Germany (Cologne), Belgium (Antwerp) and Guernsey. Catlin UK has regional offices in Glasgow, Leeds, Derby, Birmingham,Watford and Tonbridge. Catlin recently announced that it will open European offices in Paris, Barcelona, Zurich and Innsbruck in early 2007. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange