U.S. Reinsurers Post Poor Numbers In Key Areas

By Michael Ha

NU Online News Service, March 21, 11:22 a.m. EST?The U.S. property-casualty reinsurance sector booked lackluster results in key areas for 2004, according to newly released data.[@@]

The numbers from the Reinsurance Association of America show a deterioration in combined ratio and loss ratio, net underwriting loss and net written premiums, which all declined compared to 2003 figures.

The newly released data from the Reinsurance Association of America shows that 26 major U.S. reinsurance companies averaged a 106.2 combined ratio, with a 79.8 loss ratio for 2004, deteriorating from 101.2 combined ratio and 74 loss ratio reported by a similar group of reinsurers in 2003.

Further, the overall net underwriting loss for the reinsurance group more than doubled in 2004. The underwriting loss rose to $1.8 billion last year, significantly worse than the $560 million loss reported in 2003.

The group reported overall net written premiums of $28.78 billion, falling 6.1 percent from $30.63 billion in 2003. The investment income also fell, down to $4.76 billion for 2004 from $5.62 billion in 2003.

Still, the reinsurers managed to pull off a slight improvement in their overall net income. The 26 reinsurers' combined income was $3.14 billion, better than $3.07 billion reported by a similar group in 2003. The reinsurers especially benefited from the overall net realized capital gain of $1.8 billion last year, a $1 billion increase from $873 million in 2003.

The Washington, D.C.-based RAA also found that reinsurers' policyholder surplus increased to $61.21 billion in 2004, up 9.5 percent from 55.91 billion in 2003.

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U.S. Reinsurers Post Poor Numbers In Key Areas

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