Hiscox Ltd on Thursday said written premiums increased in the third quarter, but it expects to take a $75 million hit from Hurricane Milton in the fourth quarter.

Hiscox shares were down 4.0% to 1,025.00 pence on Thursday morning in London. The wider FTSE 100 index was up 0.1%.

The Hamilton, Bermuda-based business insurer said insurance contract written premiums were $3.87 billion in the year to September 30, up 3.0% from $3.76 billion a year before. Within this Retail was up 5.4% and Re & ILS up 4.3%, but London Market was down 2.9%.

Hiscox said large natural catastrophe losses and its overall claims experience was within expectations in the first nine months of the year, despite an ‘active loss environment’.

However, it expects to reserve a net loss of $75 million in the fourth quarter for Hurricane Milton, which hit the US state of Florida in early October. This loss is split between the London Market and Re & ILS businesses.

Hiscox said it remains within its full-year catastrophe loss expectations.

Meanwhile, investment income was $346.6 million, up from $201.7 million a year before, for a year-to-date return of 4.3%, compared to 2.8% a year before. Hiscox had $8.4 billion in invested assets as of September 30, up from $8.0 billion a year before.

Looking ahead, Hiscox said Retail business growth is expected to improve in the fourth quarter ‘as the momentum from a number of distribution initiatives...continues to build’.

‘The group continues to deliver a solid performance, with our combined focus on building growth and earnings momentum,’ said Chief Executive Officer Aki Hussain.

‘Our priorities of achieving high quality growth in all markets in our Retail business, and selectively deploying capital into attractive big-ticket lines, are unchanged, and we continue to make significant progress against the group’s strategy to deliver sustainable, less volatile returns while growing the business.’

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