Lancashire expects third-quarter dip on marine, catastrophe losses

Lancashire Holdings Ltd. expects to post a negative return on equity in the third quarter owing to a series of losses in its marine portfolio and natural catastrophe losses, the London-based underwriter announced Monday.

Lancashire expects to record about $30 million in aggregate estimated ultimate net losses within its marine portfolio for the third quarter, the company said in a statement. “In addition, Lancashire has suffered an accumulation of attritional losses as a result of exposures to a number of recent natural catastrophe events, including Hurricane Florence, and typhoons Jebi, Mangkhut and Trami,” according to the statement. The aggregate estimated net ultimate losses for these events are expected to be in a range of $25 million to $45 million.

Lancashire said that as additional information emerges, the actual ultimate loss may vary from the preliminary estimates. The final settlement of all claims is likely to take place over a considerable period of time.

“Given these loss estimates, the company expects that it will produce a negative return on equity for the third quarter of 2018,” said Lancashire in its statement, adding that it “expects to remain profitable for the first nine months of 2018.”

The company said it will provide a more detailed update as part of its earnings release covering the group’s financial statements for the third quarter of 2018, due for release on Nov. 1.