Tower Ltd.’s premiums up nearly 13%

New Zealand-based insurer Tower Ltd.’s gross written premiums increased 12.5% year-on-year to $123 million New Zealand ($75.86 million) in the first quarter ended Dec 31, 2022, despite the impact of natural catastrophes, Reinsurance News reported. The strong premium growth, together with proper cost control helped the insurer improve its management expense ratio to 35% from 38% in the year-ago period. Tower expects the final cost of the Auckland and Upper North Island weather event to be between NZD95 million and NZD125 million.