NEW ZEALAND INSURANCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20628, 29 July 1930, Page 8

NEW ZEALAND INSURANCE.

There is a refreshing tone of satisfaction with the past and confidence in the future in the annual report ot the New Zealand Insurance Company that is welcome in these times i when the country is under so many temptations to magnify difficulties and to portray adversity in grandiose terms. On the evidence of its accounts, the results for the past year represent a gratifying though not spectacular improvement. For the fourth year in succession, there is a moderate increase in premium income, but the greater part of the gain has been absorbed by a further increase in losses, which is reflected in a continuation of .the rise in the ratio that has persisted for some years. The principal factor has been the extremely unfavourable record of fire wastage within the Dominion, and it is to be hoped that the, declaration of a substantial increase in the underwriting surplus is evidence of improvement in this respect. There is no real compensation for damage by fire, and the economic loss by this cause in New Zealand had risen to an alarming annual amount. The domestic business of the New Zealand Insurance Company is as important as it is varied, but underwriting profits in the Dominion are strictly limited by the high loss ratios in tire, accident and compensation insurance. The risks insured by this local company are spread throughout the world, and, in competition with the greater international institutions, it earns profits that are added to the national wealth. By steadfast adherence to a policy of prudent enterprise, the company lias gradually increased the visible evidence of its financial strength, and to-day's report discloses the achievement of a new record in the increase of its total assets to over .£*3,000,000. Since the stability of the company is so thoroughly established, the directors have recommended that the nominal liability of shareholders should be discharged by transferring £300,000 from the general reserve to capital account. Ample reserves will remain against possible contingencies and fluctuations of fortune in the underwriting world, aud shareholders in the company may be congratulated not only on the achievement of this milestone in its history, but also on the assurance, implicit in the report and recommendations, that the directors and management, with a broad view of conditions arid prospects, regard the future hopefully and confidently.