Insurance group FBD Holdings has said that its profit after tax from July to date is ahead of expectations and ahead of this time last year.
The insurance group issued an interim management statement today.
It said due to the ''excellent'' performance of its core underwriting business for the period under review, it will deliver full year operating earnings per share of between 155 and 165 cent.
This is an increase of 10 cent on previous guidance and is subject to exceptional events arising, FBD added.
See how FBD shares did today in Dublin
FBD said it has continued to perform strongly and has built on its first half to deliver strong earnings and profit after tax in the second half of the year so far.
''The group has performed ahead of market guidance, primarily due to the continuation of the first half claims performance in the underwriting business,'' today's trading update stated.
The company said that gross premiums are marginally lower than this time last year, but well ahead of the market which contacted by 6.3% in the first six months of the year. It added that so far this year, net earned premium is marginally ahead of last year.
It also noted that policy volumes are down marginally in the second half of the year so far. FBD said that prices in the market for some insurance products have continued to fall, which it said in some cases is due to reducing risk as economic activity declines.
FBD said it continues to develop its multi-channel distribution strategy in response to customer needs. It said its online channels FBD.ie and NoNonsense.ie are attracting more customers, while its initiative to enter into partnerships with insurance brokers is ''progressing positively''.
The trading performance of FBD's property and leisure joint venture continued to improve over the peak summer period with growth in occupancy, rates and revenue per room - especially in the Irish market. It said that year to date, the trading performance is ahead of both last year and expectations.
Sales of FBD units in La Cala in Spain continue to exceed expectations and the joint venture continues to be strongly cash generative, the company added.
''FBD Insurance will focus on profitable and sustainable growth, maintaining underwriting discipline and constantly evolving its business to reflect customer needs,'' the company said in its trading update.
''Further opportunities to maintain FBD's cost competitiveness will be identified and implemented. The group is well positioned to deliver profitable growth and superior returns to shareholders in the future,'' it added.
