W. R. Berkley Profit Up 89 Percent

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 its third-quarter net profit grew to $76 million, a jump of 89 percent from $41 million posted one year ago, thanks to improvements in net premiums written.

The insurer's combined ratio also improved, down 3.9 points to 91.7 from 95.6 posted during the year-ago period.

Commenting on net premiums written for the quarter, which jumped 37 percent to $940 million compared to last year, Chief Executive Officer William Berkley said the majority of the growth came from price hikes, with the remainder a result of increased policy count.

Mr. Berkley also commented that cash flow from operations grew 38 percent to reach $420 million for the third quarter, while the ratio of paid losses to earned premiums declined to 36 percent.

"Third-quarter results were outstanding despite the continued impact of low interest rates on our investment returns as well as modest initial operating losses from several new ventures," he said.

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