The Norwegian marine insurance group clocked up an after tax surplus of $89m but will not collect part of the deferred call due for last year in the fifth premium concession in as many years.
A reduction in the deferred call from 25% to 15% will save Gard members about $40m but cuts the free reserve that would otherwise have been reached from $984m to $944m.
Gard has now given its “shareholder” members a dividend of more than $150m since 2009 as part of a strategy of writing mutual protection and indemnity cover at a modest loss with the gap filled by its commercial insurance business.
Underwriting proved profitable with an overall combined ratio of 97% indicating an underwriting surplus of $24m with the investment and financial side contributing a further $65m, equivalent to a return of 4.3%.
The premium income of Gard, the biggest of the protection and indemnity clubs and the largest insurer of shipowners, rose to $959m from $884m the previous year.
The result is down on the $99m surplus of the previous year but compares well to the $18m profit at the half year stage.
Profitability is also well ahead of the $52m surplus that the Standard & Poor’s rating agency predicted when Gard’s ‘A+’ rating was reaffirmed at the start of this year.
The Gard juggernaut appears to have been unaffected by change at the top produced by the premature death of former chief executive Claes Isacson and his replacement with Rolf Thore Roppestad.
Roppestad said the Gard insurance operation had performed well and we was looking ahead to further developing the global organisation.
"I am delighted to report strong results for the 2013 financial year. It was a year of considerable change for Gard, but a combination of solid team work and a strong business performance has meant that continuity of service has been delivered,” added Roppestad.
