UPDATE 2-Hurricanes hit profits at Hiscox, Brit, Chaucer
* Brit 2008 profit down 53 pct, Hiscox down 55 pct
* Chaucer reports 2008 loss of 26.2 mln pounds
* Brit plans to move tax base to Netherlands
(Adds details, CEO comments, share price)
LONDON, March 9 (Reuters) - Hurricane losses and weak investments more than halved profit at London-listed insurers Hiscox and Brit, and pushed rival Chaucer into a loss, but all three predicted a boost from rising insurance prices this year.
Hiscox (HSX.L) and Brit (BRE.L) on Monday said their 2008 pretax profit fell 55 percent and 53 percent respectively to 105.2 million pounds ($149.6 million) and 89.2 million pounds. Chaucer (CHU.L) slumped to a pretax loss of 26.2 million pounds, having made an 89.4 million pounds profit the previous year.
The three insurers predicted that a cyclical rise in insurance premiums will boost their performance this year, while Brit said it also expected to benefit from a plan to shift its tax base to the Netherlands from the United Kingdom.
In a conference call with reporters, Brit Chief Executive Dane Douetil said the move could cut the company's effective tax rate by about half by 2010.
"The Netherlands has a long history of being entrepreneurial, and it has a stable fiscal policy which allows us to plan ahead," Douetil said.
Brit first signalled its intention to quit the United Kingdom last year, and considered a range of tax domiciles including Switzerland before settling on the Netherlands.
IKE IMPACT
By 1427 GMT, Brit was 3.94 percent higher at 178.25 pence, while Hiscox was up 2.12 percent at 289.75 pence, and Chaucer was 5.66 percent lower at 37.5 pence.
The insurers partly blamed the decline in their profits hefty losses from the 2008 U.S. hurricane season, which included Hurricane Ike, the third most destructive windstorm on record.
They also pointed to poor investment returns as the global downturn weighed on financial markets.
Hiscox had net hurricane losses of $175 million against Brit's losses $112 million, and made a negative investment return of 1.3 percent, compared with a positive return of 0.16 percent at Brit.
Chaucer had hurricane losses of $67.7 million, and made an investment loss of 71 million pounds as financial markets turned sour.
All three companies said they expected insurance prices to rise this year as underwriters react to last year's hurricane losses.
But Hiscox chief executive Bronek Masojada cautioned that the increase would be moderate compared with the steep jump in insurance rates seen after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, and Hurricane Katrina four years ago.
"This isn't like 9/11 or 2005. We're only looking at 5 to 10 percent increases. Prices are already at quite a good level," he told Reuters in an interview.
Brit and Hiscox also said they would be able to take advantage of the better market prices without raising new capital.
Chaucer launched a 75 million pound capital-raising in January, while rivals Catlin (CGL.L) and Beazley (BEZG.L) also sold new shares to finance business growth since the beginning of the year.
Chaucer, which in January received takeover approaches from an unspecified number of suitors, also said it remained in talks with the potential buyers.
"We continue to hold discussions with interested parties with a view to maximising value for shareholders," the company said.
Chaucer's suitors include rival insurer Novae (NVA.L), which in January approached Chaucer about a possible merger between the two groups. (Additional reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Sharon Lindores) ($1=.7030 Pound)
