NU Online News Service, July 29, 3:52 p.m. EDT
Pembroke, Bermuda-based RenaissanceRe Holdings, Ltd. reported second-quarter net income of $271.2 million, nearly a 100 percent increase over the $135.7 million reported for the period in 2008.
The company said it saw improved investment returns and strong underwriting performance.
Net premiums written increased to $631.4 million in the quarter, compared to 2008 second-quarter net premiums written of $614 million. RenaissanceRe reported $555.6 million in net premiums written for its reinsurance segment, and $298.7 million for individual risk.
The company's 2009 second-quarter combined ratio improved to 43.8, down from 53.5 for the same period in 2008.
RenaissanceRe said in a statement, "The company's underwriting results for the second quarter of 2009 were primarily driven by lower net claims and claim expenses incurred principally due to $106.2 million of favorable development on prior year reserves."
The favorable development, said the company, "reflects reductions in estimated ultimate losses on certain specific events within the company's catastrophe unit and better than expected claims emergence in the company's specialty unit."
RenaissanceRe reported net realized gains on investments of $18.9 million, up from $2.4 million in 2008′s second quarter. For the first half of 2009, the company reported net realized gains of $41 million compared to $17.1 million in 2008.
The company said 2009 second-quarter net investment income was $114.3 million, up from 2008 second-quarter net investment income of $38.7 million.
RenaissanceRe said, "The company's total investment result for the second quarter of 2009 benefitted from the significant tightening of credit spreads during the quarter, which resulted in increases in the fair value of many of the company's investments. The company does not anticipate a repeat of this quarter's investment performance in future periods."
Neill A. Currie, RenaissanceRe chief executive officer, said in a statement, "I am pleased to report a strong quarter with an annualized operating ROE of 39 percent and over 11 percent growth in book value per share in the quarter."
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