"Goshawk said the net charge to the group's profit and loss account resulting from the closure will be in the region of 35 mln in the current year.

Panmure was delighted that Goshawk has finally drawn a line under its Lloyds of London business, with the broker announcing that it would upgrade the stock to 'buy' from 'neutral' as soon as it met with new chief executive, Russell Brooke.

'Investors should be pleased to see that the comment 'Goshawk's liability is limited to its Fund At Lloyd's' in the announcement of the closure of Syndicate
102,' said the broker in a note to clients.
The broker reckons that Goshawk will likely report a loss of 50 mln stg for the full year. However, if it can continue to deliver a 20 pct return on capital at
its re-insurance unit in 2004 and 2005, the shares will begin to look inexpensive, argued Panmure."

Hi Ash!

Andy

LOL


Down today isn't it.

Haystack,

Just a tad, so far!

Andy
It's funny really to think that he may not have realised that we all knew he was Ashley James. The posting style is quite distinctive! He is easliy spotted in all his guises here and on ADVFN! It is a bit like when a small child hides behind a blanket and thinks that no one can see him (that's not meant as an insult by the way). It does indicate a certain charming naivety. Just don't creep up on him and shout BOO!.

Ash

Watch and learn, amateur.

Gausie

Gausie and the rest of you little boys.I am not Ash and have never portrayed to be.I have copied some of his posts from SP but that is about all !

Now grow up ;-)

That was a shorting drop today.If you followed the action you would have seen that the trades were all targeted at one MM hence the wide spread.The interesting thing is that they left the shorts open over night as the offer price never dropped to allow them to make a profit.Now if you were a long the best thing to do is buy in the morning and try to force the shorters to close.This would then add impetous to the rise.

You can also see from a chart perspective that GOS formed a double bottom at 32.5p today which on it's own is a very bullish signal.

Goshawk's rating affirmed


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Mairi Mallon


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) of Goshawk Reinsurance Ltd. (Goshawk Re), Bermuda, and removed the rating from under review, the agency said yesterday.
Goshawk Re, one of the post September 11, 2001 start-ups, had been put under review with negative implications after problems were made public about the parent company's problems generated by the group's Lloyd's operation.
But yesterday the agency said that after discussions with the Goshawk group and the ongoing protection of Goshawk Re's capital from problems said that the "ongoing maintenance of risk-adjusted capitalisation at Goshawk Re is more than commensurate with the rating".
Best said that the negative outlook reflected the increased uncertainty of Goshawk Re's market profile and consequent prospective operating performance, particularly resulting from the challenge of building an attractive ongoing book and avoiding adverse selection.
Best placed the rating under review with negative implications following an announcement by the parent, Goshawk Insurance Holdings plc, that it may breach its banking covenants due to the need for additional reserve strengthening at Lloyd's Syndicate 102, and the potential impact that any shortfall of funding at the syndicate may have on the group's overall financial flexibility. The banking covenants have since been suspended reflecting ongoing support from Goshawk's banks.
The report said: "In A.M. Best's opinion, Goshawk Re is not materially exposed to losses arising from reinsurance of syndicate 102's business, as there is only a very minor exposure to pre-2002 business. "
But Best said the Bermuda subsidiary had excellent risk-adjusted capitalisation and the rating reflected the division's stand-alone financial strength.
"In A.M. Best's opinion, the company has a substantial excess of both current and prospective risk-adjusted capital relative to its financial strength rating despite the need to fund repayments of the $65 million term debt issued by its immediate holding company," said a Best release.
Best said, however, there was increased uncertainty over operating performance and that while current market conditions continue to support the potential for good operating performance, this is obviously highly dependent on the quality of business which Goshawk Re will write.
And it said the company would have a weakened business profile, as it is likely to suffer from the weakened group profile, and this has been factored into business generation and performance expectations.
"Furthermore, the company's original business plan to develop a core book of third-party business was delayed by virtue of specific class underwriting positions and key management roles being filled later than planned," it added.

Starting to move up after consolidating at 31p.Nearly has a market cap of $100M which will get funds very interested.

Recent press comments also,to add a bit of spice,about bid talks.

One definately to be in.

Good news from Panmure apparently (found on iii)......

"Goshawk said the net charge to the group's profit and loss account resulting from the closure will be in the region of 35 mln in the current year.

Panmure was delighted that Goshawk has finally drawn a line under its Lloyds of London business, with the broker announcing that it would upgrade the stock to 'buy' from 'neutral' as soon as it met with new chief executive, Russell Brooke.

'Investors should be pleased to see that the comment 'Goshawk's liability is limited to its Fund At Lloyd's' in the announcement of the closure of Syndicate
102,' said the broker in a note to clients.
The broker reckons that Goshawk will likely report a loss of 50 mln stg for the full year. However, if it can continue to deliver a 20 pct return on capital at
its re-insurance unit in 2004 and 2005, the shares will begin to look inexpensive, argued Panmure."

Header updated.

Nobody interested then ?!

I bought it on down turn at about 35p, hopefully 1 would made by sept next year.

Getting rid of 102 may make it a takeover target, suggests the DT today

Goshawk jumped by 1.75p to 35p after Lloyds of London persuaded it to exit the London market and close its loss-making Lloyds's syndicate 102. This will allow the company to focus on its Bermudan based reinsurance activities. The company is still technically in breach of banking covenants but these will be renegotiated and that will leave essentially a pure reinsurance play trading at a big discount to a Net Asset Value estimated to be 57p a share by brokers KBC Peel Hunt.

LONDON (AFX) - Shares in Goshawk Insurance Holdings PLC moved higher this
morning as investors applauded its decision to wind down its Lloyd's of London
syndicate and focus on its re-insurance unit, said dealers.

In a statement to the Stock Exchange this morning, Goshawk said it had put its
Lloyd's of London Syndicate 102 into immediate run-off due to financial problems
stemming from the collapse of the Accident Group, the no-win-no-fee compensation
firm.

Goshawk said it expects its Funds at Lloyd's (FAL) will be retained by Lloyd's
to cover losses from the syndicate.

This will involve Goshawk surrendering 45 mln stg of cash and securities held
by Lloyd's and contributing a further 20 mln to collateralise a letter of credit
facility.

The majority of the expenses incurred in closing down the group's Lloyd's
operations not attributable to Syndicate 102 are expected to be charged to its
profit and loss account in the current financial year.

Goshawk said the net charge to the group's profit and loss account resulting
from the closure will be in the region of 35 mln in the current year.

Panmure was delighted that Goshawk has finally drawn a line under its Lloyds of
London business, with the broker announcing that it would upgrade the stock to
'buy' from 'neutral' as soon as it met with new chief executive, Russell Brooke.

'Investors should be pleased to see that the comment 'Goshawk's liability is
limited to its Fund At Lloyd's' in the announcement of the closure of Syndicate
102,' said the broker in a note to clients.

The broker reckons that Goshawk will likely report a loss of 50 mln stg for the
full year. However, if it can continue to deliver a 20 pct return on capital at
its re-insurance unit in 2004 and 2005, the shares will begin to look
inexpensive, argued Panmure.

Ailing Goshawk is a bid target
2 November 2003, Mail on Sunday

INSURER Goshawk looks likely to become a bid target after a shake-up left it focusing on its reinsurance business.




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Last week the company was told by Lloyd's of London to stop taking new business through the insurance market, where it trades as Syndicate 102.


The move was part of a Lloyd's policy to clamp down on badly performing syndicates to avoid a repeat of the massive losses that hit the market in the Nineties.


Goshawk's syndicate has suffered big losses on life insurance policies for elderly Americans and was caught up in the collapse of The Accident Group.


It will stop underwriting and Goshawk will provide 65 million to enable it to pay for new and existing claims.


Shares in the company moved higher on Friday to close at 35p, valuing the company at 62 million as industry insiders said it was a clear bid target.


Goshawk is believed to have offered itself to potential buyers earlier this year, but they were deterred by the Lloyd's situation.


As a pure reinsurance company it is far more attractive to buyers, and analysts suggested a rival such as Amlin could be interested.

http://www.thisismoney.com/20031102/nm69886.html

.

Did you have something to say Andy ?

GOS and PDX may both have good days tomorrow, good luck!