Managers Tindall Riley (Britannia) Ltd
Gross Tonnage
| Owned | 142,000,000 |
| Chartered | 51,000,000 |
Free reserves
| 2023 | 510,032,000 |
| 2022 | 587,895,000 |
| 2021 | 626,855,000 |
| 2020 | 594,388,000 |
| 2019 | 587,561,000 |
Standard & Poor’s Rating ‘A’
Tonnage by vessel type
| Bulkers / OBO | 34% |
| Crude oil tankers | 17% |
| Containers | 26% |
| Tankers (other) | 17% |
| Cargo / Other | 6% |
Tonnage by geography
| Asia | 43% |
| Scandinavia | 12% |
| Europe (non-Scandinavia) | 36% |
| Americas | 5% |
| Other | 4% |
Annual summaries
| Year | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Calls/Premium | 258,140 | 216,931 | 200,086 | 201,185 | 204,415 |
| Reinsurance Cost | 55,164 | 41,700 | 38,798 | 33,152 | 32,433 |
| Net Claims (incurred) | 169,933 | 164,888 | 160,674 | 189,832 | 164,941 |
| Operating Expenses | 46,490 | 39,113 | 32,520 | 31,891 | 28,649 |
| Net Underwriting Result | (13,447) | (28,770) | (31,906) | (53,691) | (21,608) |
| Gross Outstanding Claims | 1,155,333 | 1,051,603 | 1,220,857 | 1,198,743 | 1,163,551 |
| Total Assets | 1,687,131 | 1,690,512 | 1,873,450 | 1,806,962 | 1,747,396 |
| Average Expense Ratio | 15.39% | 12.98% | 11.66% | 11.50% | 10.90% |
| Solvency Margin | 1.46 | 1.61 | 1.53 | 1,51 | 1.50 |
| Reserves/GT Ratio | $3.59 | $4.36 | $5.01 | $5.06 | $5.25 |
All figures $’000
All figures for Britannia have been restated to include those of Boudicca.
Broker Comment
Tysers said that 2022/23 was not a good year for the Club. “There was some positive news, with further rationalization of the Group companies and financial results consolidated into one, and owned tonnage saw decent growth of 7m to 142m GT, including a 4.9m gain at the 2023 renewal, although chartered tonnage declined by 23m to 51m GT due to remedial action taken on accounts with poor records”.
It was also noted that Britannia continued to benefit from strong member loyalty and the ability to attract new quality members.
However, the broker said that the overall loss of nearly $78m for the financial year was the highest in the International Group. The investment loss was $64m (minus -5.9%), and the combined ratio of 107% represented a technical loss of $13m.
It was, therefore “no surprise that the Club decided against a capital distribution to members”, said Tysers.
Free reserves fell from $588m to $510m, which was the lowest for several years. “While the ratio of free reserves per owned GT is still a respectable $3.59, it has been in decline every year since 2018”, said Tysers.
Investment strategy was fully reviewed in 2022.
Chair Anthony Firmin has expressed confidence that Britannia’s still-strong capital position and conservative, structured investment policy (which includes 27% in cash) will enable it to benefit from the current high interest rates.
Tysers observed that, despite there being only four IG Pool claims (from other Clubs) totalling $75m as at 20th February 2023, compared to 11 totalling $487m at the same stage last year, retained incurred claims in the financial year rose by $5m to $170m. This, the broker said, reflected the deterioration of prior year Pool claims, plus considerable volatility in claims falling within the Club retention.
The 2022 policy year suffered 25 claims in excess of $1m, totalling $70m. This compared to 16 such claims totalling $46m in the previous year. Tysers observed that retained claims under $250,000 had increased consistently since 2016/17, and in 2022/23 such claims totalled $67m, nearly double that of 2016/17.
Premium income rose substantially, from $217m to $258m, reflecting increases achieved at the 2022 renewal and increased tonnage.
Further premium increases were imposed at the February 2023 renewal.
“The Club is a big machine but appears to be stuck in a jam at the moment”, the broker concluded.