RFIB RETURNS TO PROFIT IN 2018

For-sale broking group RFIB returned to profit as revenues increased and margins improved. The London wholesaler, which has been the focus of much speculation about its future ownership, reported an operating profit of £4.9m ($6.2m) for the year ended December 31, 2018. This compares to a £1.9m loss a year earlier. Normalised Ebitda surged 50% to £9.3m, while revenues edged up to just under £48m, according to newly published accounts. The firm benefitted from growth in its marine and reinsurance business as well as the expansion of its Global Risk unit and the development of its international operation, the group’s chairman, Mark Winlow, said. Margins improved by “leveraging of underlying fixed costs infrastructure and ongoing investments in people and IT”, Winlow added.