Everest Re Reports 89% Drop In Quarterly Income

NU Online News Service, Oct. 19, 3:10 p.m. EDT? The St. Michael, Barbados-based reinsurer Everest Re Group Ltd. reported its third-quarter net profit has fallen by 88.6 percent, hurt by hurricanes that devastated parts of the southeastern United States as well as typhoons in Asia.[@@]

The reinsurer's third-quarter net income?which includes realized capitalized gains and losses, dropped to $11.5 million?down significantly from $100.3 million in profit reported during the corresponding period one year ago.

Stephen Limauro, chief financial officer at Everest Re, acknowledged during this morning's earnings conference call that his company has suffered substantial adverse impact from this year's hurricane season. "The catastrophe events of the third quarter, as we previously announced, had significant impact for the quarter, $190 million net of tax," Mr. Limauro said. Nonetheless, Mr. Limauro added, "we believe these are strong results in the context of our and the industry's catastrophe experience."

"Our results excluding hurricanes?combined with still-solid and very-possibly stabilizing market conditions?indicate that the outlook for the remainder of 2004 and 2005 remains quite positive," Mr. Limauro told conference-call participants.

For the quarter, Everest Re saw its gross premiums written fall slightly, to $1.22 billion?a 1.8 percent drop from $1.24 billion posted one year ago?while net premiums written came in at $1.18 billion, down 0.3 percent compared to the same period last year.

Everest Re's combined ratio rose to 108.5, up from 95 recorded during the same period one year ago. On the other hand, net investment income for the third quarter improved to $123.8 million, up from $100.4 million one year ago.

Everest Re, a property-casualty reinsurer marketing to United States and international insurers, specializes in several areas, which include marine, aviation and surety, as well as medical malpractice, directors-and-officers liability, and professional errors and omissions liability. For the full-year 2003, the company reported $426 million in net income, up 84.2 percent from $231.3 million reported during 2002.

Special Reports /

Everest Re Reports 89% Drop In Quarterly Income

Related Stories

Recommended For You