(Note Tysers caveat on its figures, printed on September 19th in IMN at the beginning of the Gard summary).
Managers: Tindall Riley (Britannia) Ltd
| Gross Tonnage | |
| Owned | 141,700,000 |
| Chartered | 55,200,000 |
S&P Rating: A
| Free Reserves | |
| 2024 | 549,931,000 |
| 2023 | 510,032,000 |
| 2022 | 587,895,000 |
| 2021 | 626,855,000 |
| 2020 | 594,388,000 |
Tonnage by vessel type
| Bulkers/OBO | 31% |
| Tankers (Crude) | 16% |
| Containers | 29% |
| Tankers (Other) | 17% |
| Cargo/Other | 7% |
Tonnage by geography
| Asia | 42% |
| Scandinavia | 11% |
| Europe non-Scandinavia | 39% |
| Americas | 4% |
| Other | 4% |
Tysers said that Britannia’s performance in 2023/24 was much improved on recent years. The combined ratio of 102%, while producing a technical loss of $5m, was the best for a long time and a significant improvement on the two previous years of 107% and 116%, with the Club moving slowly towards its long-term aim of a breakeven underwriting result.
Owned tonnage remained static at 142m gt, with growth during the year offset by reductions at renewal. Tysers said that the Club’s underwriting discipline resulted in acceptable renewal terms not being possible with some members.
Chartered tonnage rose by 4m to 55m gt. Premium was up $30m at $289m for 2023/24. The broker said that Britannia felt that it had started 2024/25 stronger in terms of both pricing adequacy and risk profile.
Net incurred claims rose from $170m to $181m.
There were 20 claims over $1m, which Tysers said was not an unusual level, but the combined value of $75m was 12.5% above the five-year average.
The Club feels that bridge team management and navigation continue to pose challenges, and its three largest claims involved two collisions – one with a tug in the Suez Canal causing disruption to other vessels using the Canal, the other a bulker sinking after a collision in the North Sea. The third-largest claim involved a ship coming into contact with a gantry crane, which collapsed and suffered serious damage, as well as causing damage to cargo.
The Club also pointed out that there were two large collision/property damage claims from other Clubs on the Pool – the sinking of the oil tanker Princess Empress in the Philippines and the container ship Wan Hai 02 colliding with a bulker and collapsing a jetty in Vietnam.
An investment return of $63m (6.6%), mainly from its large bond holding, produced a surplus for the year of $58m, from which $10m was distributed to members in October 2023.
Free reserves at February 2023 have had to be restated at $502m (down from $510m reported last year) and have thus increased to $550m.
| $000s | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
| Calls/Premium | 288,815 | 258,140 | 216,931 | 200,086 | 201,185 |
| Reinsurance Cost | 62,602 | 55,164 | 41,700 | 38,798 | 33,152 |
| Net Claims (incurred) | 181,261 | 169,933 | 164,888 | 160,674 | 189,832 |
| Operating Expenses | 50,245 | 46,490 | 39,113 | 32,520 | 31,891 |
| Net Underwriting Result | (5,293) | (13,447) | (28,770) | (31,906) | (53,691) |
| Gross Outstanding Claims | 1,102,947 | 1,155,333 | 1,051,603 | 1,220,857 | 1,198,743 |
| Total Assets | 1,716,758 | 1,687,131 | 1,690,512 | 1,873,450 | 1,806,962 |
| Average Expense Ratio | 15.48% | 15.39% | 12.98% | 11.66% | 11.50% |
| Solvency Margin | 1.56 | 1.46 | 1.61 | 1.53 | 1,51 |
| Reserves/GT Ratio | $3.88 | $3.59 | $4.36 | $5.01 | $5.06 |