By Roushni Nair

June 19 (Reuters) - Australia's QBE Insurance Group ( QBEIF )

on Wednesday forecast a 3% increase in first-half gross

written premium on a constant currency basis and said it would

close its struggling North America middle-market segment.

Shares of the insurer slipped as much as 1.9% to A$18.03 by

0054 GMT, while the broader benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index

traded largely flat.

The decision on the North America middle-market segment came

after a strategic review revealed it had faced challenges over

the past several years. The segment represented a gross written

premium of $500 million in fiscal year 2023.

"The closure will have no incremental impact on appetite or

strategy for North America's three core businesses - specialty,

crop and commercial," the company said in a statement.

A cost of $100 million before tax associated with the

closure will be recorded in the fiscal 2024 results, it added.

"For a long time we have been sceptical of QBE's mid-market

strategy... at this stage, we think the relief of finally ending

this longstanding underperforming business should outweigh the

minor negatives on numbers," analysts at Citi wrote.

The $100 million restructuring charge, lower future premium,

and potential expense overruns are also factors to consider,

they added.

QBE Insurance ( QBEIF ), which operates in 27 countries, logged a

total investment income of $643 million in the five months to

May. In the first quarter, it was $406 million.

The group projected a first-half gross written premium of

$13.1 billion and net insurance revenue of $8.4 billion, up from

$12.80 billion and $7.98 billion, respectively, from a year

earlier.

(Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay

Kishore and Subhranshu Sahu)