FBD chief executive Fiona Muldoon has said the company’s higher profits are not coming from charging higher premiums to farmers. The company’s insurance profits jumped by 41% last year to €63m.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Muldoon said FBD Insurance had lost business in its farm book due to increased competition in the marketplace.

AXA entered the farm insurance market last year for the first time to challenge Ireland’s largest farm insurer.

FBD claims to have 75% of the Irish farm insurance market.

Muldoon said that its higher profits in 2018 were a result of better risk selection rather than charging higher premiums to farmers.