Ireland's FBD says to "significantly strengthen" capital reserves
DUBLIN, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Irish general insurer FBD Holdings Plc laid out a plan on Monday to significantly strengthen its capital reserves and change a business strategy that it said had failed to deliver profitable growth.
After announcing a half-year loss per share of 2.44 euros, FBD said it will sell its stake in its property and leisure business, make changes to its staff pension scheme, explore options for raising regulatory capital in debt markets and not pay dividends for the full year.
"This is a difficult day for FBD, our shareholders and our staff. These results reflect very serious increased claims costs in our industry. We are taking decisive action now to de-risk our strategy and return to profitability by the end of 2016," FBD Interim Chief Executive Officer Fiona Muldoon said in a statement. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by david Clarke (Toronto: CKI.TO - news) )