NU Online News Service, May 5, 3:33 p.m. EDT
Liberty Mutual Group reported first-quarter net income of $28 million, a 92.2 percent decrease from the $360 million in net income reported in the 2008 first quarter.
Private equity losses hurt the quarterly results, and Edmund F. Kelly, chairman, president and CEO of Liberty Mutual, attributed those losses to the struggling capital markets.
The company reported 2009 first-quarter private equity losses of $373 million compared to 2008 first-quarter private equity income of $60 million.
Liberty Mutual's 2009 first-quarter combined ratio was 99.5 compared to 100.7 in the 2008 first quarter.
In a conference call, Mr. Kelly said Liberty Mutual's core businesses performed well. He said he was happy with the results but would have liked to have been a lot happier.
Net written premium in the 2009 first quarter was $7 billion, a 12.3 percent increase over the previous year's first quarter.
Private passenger automobile net written premium jumped from $1.7 billion in the 2008 first quarter to $2.3 billion in 2009, an increase of 37.4 percent. The company said the increase primarily reflects approximately $615 million of premium related to the September 2008 acquisition of Safeco Corporation.
Homeowners net written premium fell 4 percent to $433 million in the quarter from $451 in the 2008 first quarter. The company said "the decrease reflects the impact of $223 million related to a homeowners quota share reinsurance treaty entered into in 2008."
In the conference call, Mr. Kelly said significant catastrophe losses in the quarter also hurt the homeowners business. The company reported $326 million in catastrophe losses compared to $166 million in the 2008 first quarter.
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