Canopius Group swings to profit in 2012

Canopius Group Ltd. posted a pretax profit of £49 million ($79.6 million) for 2012, compared with a loss of £61 million ($94.8 million) for 2011, the company announced Monday.

The privately held Guernsey-based insurer and reinsurer said its combined ratio was 95% for 2012 compared with 111% for the previous year.

Canopius said its gross written premiums increased by 12% to £692 million ($1.12 billion) in 2012.

Meanwhile, Canopius on Friday announced the pricing of the sale of its Bermuda unit, Canopius Holdings Bermuda Ltd., to a number of institutional investors.

Canopius said it would receive about $216.7 million from the sale, which is expected to take place in conjunction with the merger of New York-based Tower Group Inc. and Canopius Bermuda that was announced last year.