W. R. Berkley Profit Up 89 Percent

NU Online News Service, Oct. 29, 12 :49 p.m.EST?W. R. Berkley Corp., based in Greenwich, Conn., said itsthird-quarter net profit grew to $76 million, a jump of 89 percentfrom $41 million posted one year ago, thanks to improvements in netpremiums written.

The insurer's combined ratio also improved, down 3.9 points to91.7 from 95.6 posted during the year-ago period.

Commenting on net premiums written for the quarter, which jumped37 percent to $940 million compared to last year, Chief ExecutiveOfficer William Berkley said the majority of the growth came fromprice hikes, with the remainder a result of increased policycount.

Mr. Berkley also commented that cash flow from operations grew38 percent to reach $420 million for the third quarter, while theratio of paid losses to earned premiums declined to 36 percent.

"Third-quarter results were outstanding despite the continuedimpact of low interest rates on our investment returns as well asmodest initial operating losses from several new ventures," hesaid.

W. R. Berkley's subsidiaries--including Acadia Insurance,Continental Western Insurance, Union Standard Insurance andFiremen's Insurance--offer personal and commercial lines such asautomobile, homeowners and small business insurance. In 2002, itposted a net income of $175 million with revenues reaching $2.56billion.