The TT Club which insures liner shipping risks - including land side exposures, the boxes, as well as ports and terminals - is exposed to natural catastrophes and was hit by Super Storm Sandy in 2012. In contrast there were only small claims from Typhoon Haiyan that devastated the Philippines in November.
The surplus is the highest since the 2010 year and lifts the free reserve of the club, including a subordinated loan of $29m that qualifies as hybrid capital, to $161.6m.
The combined ratio indicating underwriting profitability fell to 87.4% an improvement on the last two years which have been in the high nineties.
Gross premium income of the ‘A-’ rated TT Club amounted to $186.3m, up from $182.3m the previous year. Gross claims paid ran to $114.3m.
Club chairman, Knud Pontoppidan, a former Maersk executive, said a restructuring to cut costs had been “a pivotal contributing factor to the positive picture” with cost management continuing to be a key area of focus.
Pontoppidan also warned that the market the TT Club operates in continued to be tough with premium rating under pressure from a continued easy supply of capital.
Shipping company members of the TT Club include AP Moller, Evergreen, Cosco, Hapag-Lloyd, K Line, OOCL, Pacific International Lines, Grindrod and ACL, while on the port side the list includes Virginia International Terminals, Modern Terminals and DP World.
