The underlying earnings per share for RSA Insurance for FY 2019 moved up from 34.1p in 2018 to 44.5p
RSA Insurance Group made an underwriting profit of £405m for FY 2019. (Credit: Pixabay/David Schwarzenberg)
RSA Insurance Group has reported a profit after tax of £383m for the full year 2019 compared to £372m made in the full year 2018.
The underlying profit before tax was £624m after excluding exit portfolios (ex. exits) for FY 2019 compared to £492m made in the year before, as per the 2019 preliminary results released by the company.
The UK-based insurance group said that it could increase its profit despite the impact of exits and other charges.
RSA Insurance’s underlying earnings per share for FY 2019 moved up from 34.1p in 2018 to 44.5p.
Its business operating result for the full year 2019 was £656m (ex. exits) compared to £517m made in the year before.
In Scandinavia, the business operating result for RSA Insurance was £286m, in Canada it was £159m, and in the UK and international, the figure was £279m.
The total group business operating result for the full year 2019 was £597m profit, compared to the 2018 figure of £517m.
RSA Insurance’s group underwriting profit was £405m for the reported year. The total group’s underwriting profit surged from £250m in 2018 to £346m.
The insurance group has increased the final dividend per ordinary share for 2019 to 15.6p compared to 13.7p announced for 2018.
RSA Group chief executive comments on the 2019 preliminary results
RSA Group chief executive Stephen Hester said: “We are pleased to report strong results for RSA in 2019. Our profits are up, our dividends are up and return on tangible equity is very good.
“This progress is driven by improved underwriting, which has produced record current year profits and combined ratio.
“2019 was an important period for RSA. Significant management renewal and a repositioning of our UK & International division are showing good promise. Our Groupwide focus on underwriting improvement with strong cost control proved effective.
“Yet there is plenty more we can do to improve each of our businesses for customers and shareholders. There are challenges, but we are determined to drive further progress and high performance.”