Profits surged 59 per cent at Intact Insurance Ireland, previously known as RSA Insurance Ireland, last year to €17.7 million as a decline in earnings from its main business of insuring households and businesses was offset by a boost from its bond investments portfolio.
The company’s profits on its insurance underwriting fell almost 40 per cent to €13 million from €21.2 million the previous year, hit by the impact of Storm Éowyn in January last year on property coverage, it said in its latest annual solvency and financial condition report.
The so-called extratropical cyclone was the most expensive insurance event in Irish history, with industry costs exceeding €300 million.
Gross written premiums rose by 2.5 per cent to €410.9 million, according to the report, published on the company’s website. However, net written premiums came to €97.6 million, largely as it reinsured much of its risk with its immediate parent, Intact Insurance UK. Both companies are part of Toronto-based Intact Financial Corporation.
Commissions, largely stemming from ceding premium under its reinsurance deal, rose 9.4 per cent to €109.9 million.
Intact Insurance Ireland, led by chief executive Kevin Thompson, freed up €1.63 million of an €11.1 million non-cash charge that had been taken against its bond investments portfolio. The unrealised loss booked in 2024 was driven by reinvestment of a significant part of the investment portfolio at higher market interest rates, the report said.
The company’s actual investment income rose 7 per cent last year to €12.8 million.
RSA Ireland was once the largest insurer in the State before it was rocked by an accounting scandal in 2013. It has languished in sixth position in recent years, with a 7.5 per cent market share in 2024.
Intact Financial Corporation took over its UK parent in 2021 and rebranded the Irish unit last year under the group’s name.
Intact Insurance Ireland was, according to sources, one of two final bidders for Italian insurance giant Generali’s RedClick unit in Ireland. However, Zurich Insurance’s Irish arm secured a deal in early March to buy RedClick for €337 million in a deal that will propel it into the top three general insurers in the Republic.
Intact Insurance Ireland’s drop in insurance underwriting profit last year echoed similar declines by Dublin-listed FBD and Aviva Insurance Ireland resulting from Storm Éowyn.
“The risks of claims inflation, pricing volatility and reserving uncertainty are continuously impacted by external slow-moving factors,” the company said in the solvency and financial condition report.
“There continues to be significant economic uncertainty and inflationary pressure at a global level due to a tense geopolitical situation, including ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as the impact of US foreign policy, including tariff measures and associated trade tensions.”
Intact Insurance Ireland’s board did not recommend a dividend payment to its parent last year. Its technical capital reserves position has been bolstered for the past decade by a commitment from the parent to provide it with €90 million, if needed.
This so-called ancillary own funds facility was initially provided in 2016 as insurance capital rules, known as Solvency II, came into effect.