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.
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