Insurer FBD has reaffirmed its guidance of full-year operating earnings per share, following a growth in premium income and further market share gains.

In an interim management statement this morning, FBD said it was confident it would deliver full-year operating earnings per share of 145 to 155 cent, in line with previous guidance.

“On the assumption that large claims revert to norm and barring exceptional weather events during the remainder of the year, the group reaffirms previous guidance of full year operating earnings per share in the range of 145 to 155 cent,” it said.

Earlier this year, FBD experienced a small number of very large accident and liability claims, with a cost greater than €1 million.

In the first nine months of the year, gross written premiums were 2 per cent higher than the previous year, and ahead of the market, which FBD estimates has declined by approximately 2 per cent to 3 per cent in the nine months.

The insurer said policy volumes had increased in the first nine months, with early evidence of rates hardening in the market for certain lines of business, particularly car and business insurance.

The group said its online channels, FBD.ie and NoNonsense.ie, were attracting growing numbers of customers from their respective target markets, and the development of relationships with insurance brokers to increase penetration of the business insurance market was progressing positively.

In September, FBD launched a car insurance offering in partnership with brokers under the Clan Insurance brand.