The full press release is available here and useful slide presentation available here.

Group premiums increased to U$1.95bn for the first half and the net profit was much larger at US$264.8m compared to last year's US$25.4m.

The group's combined ratio was much lower for the period at 85.7% compared to 90.8%.

Premium in the London Market and Hiscox Re & ILS and divisions (Syndicate 33's operations and the reinsurance class respectively) grew more strongly at 14% and 17%.

Hiscox commented on the "attractive rates in property, as well as new business growth in upstream energy and marine " driving the increasing London Market premium. The slides mention that the property sector is still hardening and more than offsetting the rate declines in D&O and cyber.. Rates were up 9%; cumulatively 72% since 2018.

For Re & ILS it was "hard market conditions, [with] strong double-digit growth in the North American natural catastrophe, retrocession and marine books."
Rates up 34% and 95% cumulatively since 2018. Hiscox has deployed more of its capital in order to take advantage of the trading opportunities.

Also, interesting to see in the slides that Hiscox mentions that ILS investor appetite remains "subdued" - good for maintaining the hard market in Lloyd's.

Yesterday, Hiscox's shares were down as much as 10% at one point as opinion latched on to the lower growth prospects in the retail division. Against that, this following comment on the last page of the slides is worth reading "Portfolio believed to be the highest quality in over ten years, positions the Group well to drive strong earnings."