Lancashire declares $182m special dividend as retro pricing slips

Lancashire Holdings declared a special dividend of 75 cents per common share, about $182 million. Nine-month gross premiums written to Sept. 30 were $1.806 billion, broadly flat from a year earlier.

Reinsurance gross premiums written fell $61.6 million year on year as Lancashire cut inwards property retrocession through the first half, Insurance Business America reported. The nine-month renewal price index was 93%, 7% below last year's rates on a like-for-like basis.

For allocators holding retro sidecars or collateralized reinsurance, the cut removes capacity from the property retro layer. The 93% index gives a reference point for judging quoted retro terms. Lancashire attributed the reduction on its first-quarter earnings call to cycle management, earnings volatility and a lower net catastrophe footprint.

The offset to the retro retreat came in insurance, where gross premiums written rose 5.3% to $836.5 million on energy and marine growth. Lancashire Insurance US, launched in 2024, has doubled its product lines by adding financial lines, inland marine and environmental liability. Lancashire has distributed more than $3.7 billion since its founding in 2005, returning capital in every phase of the underwriting cycle.

The retro pullback has run through three consecutive reporting periods. Whether it extends into the January renewals is the open question for ILS allocators.