Wellington raises stamp and dividend.

(From Lloyds List)

WELLINGTON, one of the strongest supporters of the Lloyd's market, plans to increase its stamp to GBP850m ($1.5bn) next year from GBP800m in the light of a strong turnaround in its energy book and confidence in a continuing firm market, writes James Brewer.

The underwriting group is distancing itself from its hurricane-hit 2005 performance by rewarding patient shareholders with an increase in dividend. The interim is declared at 1.6p against 1.4p at the same time last year.

Several Lloyd's entities have now disclosed that they are seeking small increases in capacity for next year but are waiting to see what impact the hurricane season has on premium rating and conditions before making a final decision just ahead of the September 21 Lloyd's deadline for business plans.

Like most of its competitors, Wellington has branched out into the US and other business, and chief executive Preben Prebensen said it would explore the development of new trading platforms, although he declined to be drawn into detail.

First half profit from group underwriting operations, before the impact of foreign exchange on its syndicate 2020, was GBP44m, just ahead of the equivalent figure of GBP43.4m in 2005.

Weakening of the dollar reduced the profit by GBP14.2m against a GBP13.8m increase at the same stage last year, but the company views this as an accounting rather than an economic matter.