NU Online News Service, Aug. 11, 3:35 p.m. EDT
Specialty insurer Markel Corporation reported second-quarter net income of $32.8 million, a 60 percent decrease from net income of $82.2 million in the comparable 2008 period.
For the first six months of 2009, the Richmond, Va.-based company reported net income of $49.2 million, down 58 percent from net income of $116.2 million reported for the same time period a year ago.
In the quarter, gross premium volume fell to $505.7 million, down from 2008 gross premium volume of $613.2 million. Net written premiums dropped to $456.2 million compared to $535 million in last year's second quarter.
The combined ratio for the quarter was 99, a four-point deterioration from 95 for the same period a year ago.
Speaking to the underwriting results in a conference call, Markel Vice Chairman Steve Markel said, "On the underwriting side, we continue to report profitable underwriting results, although not as good as we would like.
"The market is continuing to soften, and we did have a couple of minor surprises in the quarter which adversely affected the underwriting side. But our disciplined underwriting approach I am extremely proud of, and we are not writing business at improper prices and we are starting to see some traction in improving rates."
He added that "the message clearly out in our office is not to write business where we can't make a good return on our investment."
On the investment side, the company reported 2009 second-quarter net realized investment losses of $15.4 million, compared to net realized gains of $24.7 million in last year's second quarter.
Net investment income fell to $65 million compared to $76.5 million a year ago.
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