Bermuda-based reinsurer PartnerRe Ltd reported yesterday that net second-quarter income jumped 33 percent, with improved underwriting results and investment gains pushing up the bottom-line result while net premiums fell 9 percent.
In a statement, PartnerRe President & Chief Executive Officer Patrick Thiele said the results were "favorably impacted by a low level of large losses, in contrast to an above-average amount of such events in the first quarter of 2005."
For the first half of 2005, he said, "rapidly growing investment income somewhat offset the declining premium volume and underwriting profitability that are characteristic of this stage of the reinsurance pricing cycle."
PartnerRe reported second-quarter net income of $159.9 million, or $2.72 per share, compared to $119.8 million, or $2.12 per share, in last year's second quarter.
Second-quarter net premiums written dropped 9.1 percent to $763.9 million, but the combined ratio improved 2.8 points to 89.4 overall.
For the first half, net income rose just over 2 percent to $271.3 million, net premiums fell 8 percent to $2.2 billion, and the combined ratio deteriorated to 93.3, compared to 91.5 for the first half of 2005.
Looking ahead, Mr. Thiele predicted the net premium volume for 2005 would be down 5-to-10 percent from the 2004 level. "Our premium volume is down as a result of both the higher retentions on the part of cedents as well as our declining to write business that does not meet our profitability or terms-and-conditions targets," he said.
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