RSA on track to meet targets, insists chief executive

RSA Insurance Group, the subject of a now-abandoned £5.6 billion takeover bid from Zurich, is "more than on track" to meet its full-year financial targets after an increase in premiums, according to chief executive Stephen Hester.

Net written premiums increased 1 per cent in the first nine months of the year to £4.4 billion, RSA reported yesterday. Premiums were up 4 per cent in Scandinavia and 2 per cent in Britain, although they fell 4 per cent in Canada and 5 per cent in Ireland.

“The Zurich distraction was a bump in the road rather than anything more in terms of impact on our business,” Mr Hester said.

He was hired in 2014 to clean up the balance sheet after an accounting scandal in Ireland. He said the next two years will see “further substantial profits increases”. – (Bloomberg)