Bermudian-based Conduit Holdings Limited, the parent company of Class 4 reinsurer Conduit Re, reported impressive premium growth as it delivered its first quarter trading update.

Analysts said that after a $42 million-loss for 2021, but no debt on its balance sheet and an expected annual growth of 35 per cent, the company was projected for a break-even year, with potential for profits in the 2022 year.

Estimated ultimate premiums written rose by 49.1 per cent year-on-year to $296.9 million, and gross premiums written were $177.5 million, a 114.9 per cent increase over the prior year quarter.

Net ultimate incurred losses related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine are estimated at between $15 million and $30 million, the company said, with net impact for the first quarter of $24.6 million, after reinsurance and reinstatement premiums, predominantly driven by the classes of aviation, war on land and marine war.

While the first quarter was the sixth first quarter in a row where weather-related insured losses have exceeded $10 billion, Conduit said it had minimal exposure to these natural catastrophe events.

The company reported diversified and balanced portfolio growth with a renewal net rate change of 4.9 per cent.

Investment return was minus 2.9 per cent driven by unrealised losses of $32.6 million from increase in yields due to interest rate hike expectations.

Neil Eckert, group executive chairman, said: "Our position as a pure-play reinsurer, with a strong balance sheet and no legacy, allows the team to take advantage of the best market conditions for a decade.

“As the discipline in primary markets continues, Trevor and his team are successfully executing the strategy put forward in the IPO plans and our earned premium recognition is building.”

Trevor Carvey, group chief executive officer, said: “The first quarter of 2022 has seen significant year-on-year growth as we execute on our plan to selectively grow our diversified portfolio. We continue to enjoy the benefits of strong reinsurance market conditions and the continuing excellent support from our clients and brokers.

“Turning to the situation in Ukraine, we have estimated the ultimate potential losses for the first quarter derived primarily from our property and specialty books via classes such as aviation, war on land and marine war.

“Given the typical structure of the reinsurance treaty contracts that we underwrite, with event and aggregate limitations in place, we have been able to arrive at a loss estimate for the relatively small number of contracts we write across these classes for Ukraine and Russia, and this gives us confidence in our estimate at this time.”