FBD Holdings has reported a pretax loss of €38.6 million for 2008, compared to a profit of €162.1 million for the previous year.
The insurer said this result was due to “negative fluctuations” on investment returns of €92.3 million and a weak sterling exchange rate towards the end of the year.
Gross written premiums were 5.5 per cent lower at €385.6 million and noted that premium rate increases were introduced on certain products at the expense of volume growth.
The company said its market share rose from 11.3 per cent to 11.6 per cent during the year to the end of December.
It said the value of its investments has been impacted by the fall in financial and property markets and adjustments of €126.5 million have been booked for 2008.
The group is recommending a final dividend of 10 cent to bring the full-year dividend to 40.25 cent per share. This compares to a dividend of 79.5 cent in 2007. FBD said it has assets of €1.27 billion on its balance sheet.
Operating profits for the year were €65.8 million, down from €127.9 million in 2007, due to lower underwriting margins and reduced investment returns.
Net claims rose to €271.2 million compared to €239.1 million in 2007 with FBD noting that the insurance market experienced increased claims frequency in 2008.
Operating expenses were €58.5 million up from €51.9 million.
FBD shares were down 10 per cent at €6.35 earlier today, giving the company a market value of €216.2 million. The company's shares have declined almost 75 per cent over the last year.