Irish division of Liberty Insurance ‘driving group’s Europe operations’

US insurance giant Liberty Mutual has said that its Irish business is driving the group’s operations in Europe.

The company suggested it had benefited from an increased car insurance business in Ireland since the collapse of Setanta Insurance earlier this year.

The Boston-headquartered insurer yesterday issued second-quarter figures — which showed a 12.3% annualised drop in net income to $393m (€295m), but a 5.2% year-on-year growth in overall net written premiums (NWP) to $9.2bn, largely attributed to the expansion of its personal lines division. Little about Ireland was mentioned in the results, apart from total NWPs for the first half of the year amounting to $133m. First-quarter NWP for Ireland amounted to $52m, with the company holding a 6.5% share of the local market which analysts said implies Liberty wrote $81m of premiums during the second quarter of the year.

“There is very little detail on Ireland beyond the headline number. However, we do note commentary that Europe is being driven by Ireland due to strong new business in commercial auto following the exit of a competitor — we assume to be Setanta — from the market,” said Eamonn Hughes of Goodbody Stockbrokers, yesterday.

“The figures highlight the strong premium momentum in the business from Liberty Insurance, which is likely to see it reclaiming some of the market share lost when the old Quinn business collapsed,” Mr Hughes added.

“While we do not have comparable figures for the equivalent period in 2012/13, we do note that total NWP for 2012 was $162m and $233m in 2013,” he said. Liberty entered the Irish market in 2011, buying a controlling stake in the former Quinn Insurance business; a move it followed up with the purchase of IBRC’s 49% stake last year, to take full ownership.