Hansard group chief executive Gordon Marr is “optimistic that opportunity for growth exists across each of our regions”, as the firm continues to “make progress in our licence application process in Japan”.
The firm’s third quarter results statement provided little further detail about its pursuit of a Japanese licence, which has been ongoing for a number of years.
The Middle East and Africa region performed well for Hansard in the three months to 31 March 2019, delivering growth of 14% compared with Q3 2018.
New business rose 35% across the region in the nine months since the firm’s financial year started on 1 July 2018.
But the firm saw “mixed results” in other regions, as Hansard and its distributors “reposition aspects of their business in line with strategic and regulatory objectives”.
Worldwide split
Broken down geographically by the present value of new business premiums (PVNBP), Hansard reported:
| Three months ending 31 March | Nine months ending 31 March | |||||
| 2019 | 2018 | change | 2019 | 2018 | change | |
| MEA | £14.5m | £12.7m | 14.2% | £39.2m | £29.0m | 35.2% |
| RoW | £11.7m | £9.6m | 21.9% | £37.9m | £40.6m | (6.9%) |
| LatAm | £4.5m | £5.6m | (19.6%) | £17.6m | £19.6m | (10.2%) |
| Far East | £3.4m | £4.9m | (30.6%) | £13.6m | £20.6m | (34.0%) |
| Total | £34.1m | £32.8m | 4.0% | £108.3m | £109.8m | (1.4%) |
Hansard credited the success of its Middle East and Asia (Mea) region to the “continuing growth of our strategic relationship in the UAE”.
The Rest of World (RoW) business “benefited from the early adoption of our recently launched insurer in the Bahamas, Hansard Worldwide”.
The Caribbean venture drew a few raised eyebrows when it was announced in 2018 and the transition of brokers to the firm, plus a reduction in the size of policies sold during the third quarter, weighed on Hansard’s LatAm results.
Looking forward, Hansard said it “expects to see a stronger Q4 as Hansard Worldwide adoption increases and the effect of an additional account executive for the region starts to have a positive effect”.
New business in the Far East was hit by Hansards efforts to reposition towards a locally licensed business – mimicking its UAE operation.
Paying premiums
Regular savings growth trumped single premium products in the third quarter by a substantial margin; but, taken across a nine-month period, reflects a similar trend.
| Three months ending 31 March | Nine months ending 31 March | |||||
| 2019 | 2018 | change | 2019 | 2018 | change | |
| Regular | £19.6m | £13.9m | 41.0% | £57.0m | £51.8m | 10.0% |
| Single | £14.5m | £18.9m | (23.3%) | £51.3m | £58.0m | (11.6%) |
| Total | £34.1m | £32.8m | 4.0% | £108.3m | £109.8m | (1.4%) |
