Insurer Chaucer H1 pretax profit slumps

Aug 28 (Reuters) - Insurer Chaucer Holdings Plc (CHU.L) said first-half pretax profit plunged 92 percent, hurt by reduced investments and higher claims, and forecast premium rates for its underwriting division to fall further.

The company reported profit before tax of 3.9 million pounds ($7.16 million) compared with 47.9 million pounds a year ago.

"The first half of this year has been tough, with a difficult investment environment and above average claims combining to hold back our headline result," CEO Ewen Gilmour said in a statement.

The company expects premium rates for its divisional underwriting portfolio to fall 6 percent in 2008

The company said it faced high value single risk losses which held back its underwriting performance, even as gross written income increased to 355.3 million pounds compared with 323.9 million a year ago.

The London-based company said it has not incurred any significant subprime or credit crunch related losses to date but is prepared for an increase in claim frequency as economic conditions in the U.S. and UK weaken.

The company also increased its interim dividend by 20 percent to 1.8 pence.

Shares of Chaucer were trading down nearly 4 percent to 70.5 pence on the London Stock Exchange. ($1=.5447 POUND) (Reporting by Kavita Chandran in Bangalore; Editing by Chris Wickham)