Castelnau Group Regulatory News (CGL)

26 May 2005 07:00

Catlin Group Limited26 May 2005 CATLIN GROUP LIMITED TRADING STATEMENT HAMILTON, Bermuda - The Board of Directors of Catlin Group Limited ('CGL':London Stock Exchange), released the following trading statement after theconclusion of the Group's Annual General Meeting, held Wednesday 25 May 2005 inBermuda: Current Trading We are pleased to report continued strong performance by the Catlin Group during2005. Rate adequacy remains favourable across the classes of businessunderwritten by the Group, with a weighted average premium rate decrease of 2per cent to April 30 2005 compared with the previous year. Loss experience todate has been within projections. Net premiums earned and net income are developing in line with expectations.Given the rate softening occurring in certain classes and the Group's commitmentto underwriting profit, there has been and will likely remain a reduction ingross premium written from the previous year. Other Developments There have been a number of other important developments for the Catlin Groupduring 2005: • Liquidity in Catlin Group shares has increased significantly following recent changes to the composition of the share register, including market sales by some of our pre-IPO private equity investors. • Catlin Canada, based in Toronto, will shortly commence operations, focusing on property, casualty, marine and aviation business. • Catlin Guernsey will, subject to regulatory approvals, become the newest Catlin company, writing general aviation business on behalf of Catlin Syndicate at Lloyd's. • Catlin Insurance Company (UK) Ltd. ("Catlin UK"), has successfully commenced trading following its authorisation by the UK Financial Services Authority in March. Upon its authorisation, Catlin UK was assigned a financial strength rating of 'A' (Excellent) by A.M. Best Company. Stephen Catlin, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "I am encouraged by our current trading and the potential of our newinitiatives. In a challenging market, we are maintaining our focus onunderwriting discipline, maximising new opportunities and actively managing ourcapital." - ends - For more information contact: Media Relations:James Burcke, Head of Communications, Tel: +44 (0)20 7458 5710 Mobile: +44 (0)7958 767 738 Email: james.burcke@catlin.comLiz Morley,The Maitland Consultancy Tel: +44 (0)20 7379 5151 E-mail: emorley@maitland.co.ukInvestor Relations:William Spurgin, Head of Investor Relations Tel: +44 (0)20 7458 5726 Mobile: +44 (0)7710 314 365 Email: william.spurgin@catlin.com Notes to editors: 1. The Catlin Group, 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$1.43 billion and reported record net income of US$154.1 million in 2004. Catlin shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol:'CGL'). 2. The Catlin Group operates three underwriting platforms: • The Catlin Syndicate at Lloyd's (Syndicate 2003). The Catlin Syndicate is the eighth largest syndicate at Lloyd's based on 2005 premium capacity of £500 million. It is a recognised leader of numerous classes of specialty insurance and reinsurance. • Catlin Bermuda (Catlin Insurance Company Ltd.). Catlin Bermuda began underwriting in 2002 and writes property treaty and casualty treaty reinsurance and property and casualty insurance for US risks on a surplus lines basis. • Catlin UK (Catlin Insurance Company (UK) Ltd.). Catlin UK specialises in writing commercial property, general liability, professional indemnity, directors' and officers' liability and commercial crime insurance for UK clients. It also writes other classes of business written by the Catlin Syndicate. All three Catlin Group underwriting platforms have been assigned 'A' (Excellent) financial strength ratings by A.M. Best Company. The Catlin Group also operates subsidiaries located in the Houston and New Orleans in the US, as well as in the UK, Canada, Germany, Belgium, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. These subsidiaries allow Catlin to work more closely with local clients and their brokers. 3. The Catlin Group's website can be found at www.catlin.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange