Platinum Offers 2004 Forecast
NU Online News Service, Dec. 2, 3 :51 p.m. EST?Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd., the Bermuda-based reinsurer spun off by The St. Paul Companies last year, said it estimates in 2004 it will have net premiums written of $1.4 billion and a combined ratio between 90 and 95.
The forecast, Platinum said, is based on the current industry environment and the mix of business underwritten, and it assumes the absence of any unusual catastrophe activity.[@@]
The reinsurer also said it expects its portfolio of cash and fixed maturity investments to exceed $2.1 billion at the end of 2004. On this basis, the company said, the 2004 earnings are expected to go above $3 per share.
For its third quarter, the reinsurer had reported last month $37.8 million in net income, with a combined ratio of 85.4. The company had said net premiums written were $281.3 million and net premiums earned came in at $272.3 million during its first third quarter since its public offering in Oct. 2002.
Through its subsidiaries--Platinum Underwriters Reinsurance, Platinum Re U.K. and Platinum Underwriters Bermuda--Platinum Underwriters offers property and marine, casualty and finite risk reinsurance. The company is renewing all of St. Paul Re's existing contracts.
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