Amlin H1 Profit Drops

reported a drop in its first-half pretax profit and lifted its interim dividend. Amlin's pretax profit for the six months slipped to 143.3 million pounds ($224.76 million), compared to GBP148.5 million, in the year-ago period. EPS dropped to 26.1 pence from 26.8 pence. Net earned premiums declined 7.5 percent to 1.03 billion pounds, compared to 1.12 million pounds. The company's board raised its interim dividend by 3.7 percent to 8.4 pence per share, versus 8.1 pence per share. "This is a solid set of results in the more challenging market which prevails. Were it not for our change in accounting for the seasonality of catastrophe reinsurance earned premium, profit before tax would have been considerably ahead of the first half of last year. This will unwind in the second half," CEO Charles Philipps said. Amlin shares fell 0.09 percent to close at $32.40 on Friday.