Bermuda Companies Report: Catlin 2010 Net Income Falls; XL Reports 4Q Turnaround

The largest catastrophe loss, Catlin said, was the February 27 earthquake in Chile.

Catlin said 2010 gross premiums written rose 8.1 percent to $4.0 billion compared to $3.7 billion in 2009.

The company's 2010 investment return was $212 million, compared to $419 million or 5.9 percent in 2009.

Stephen Catlin, chief executive of Catlin Group Limited, said in a statement, "All of Catlin's underwriting hubs performed well during 2010, despite increasing market competition and a high incidence of natural catastrophes. The underwriting contribution from our non-London hubs continued to grow, producing 46 per cent of the group's total underwriting profits in 2010. These hubs provide a diverse spread of business and are demonstrating their capacity to provide profitable growth to the group."

 Another Bermuda-based company, XL Group, reported a big turnaround in its 2010 fourth quarter results due to an increase in property and casualty underwriting income. The company recorded 2010 fourth quarter net income of $195.5 million compared to a 2009 fourth quarter loss of $34.8 million.

Gross premiums written increased to $1.3 billion from $1.1 billion in the 2009 fourth quarter, and total revenues rose to $1.6 billion compared to $1.4 billion.

For the year, XL Group reported net income of $643.4 million compared to 2009 net income of $74.9 million.

Chief Executive Officer Mike McGavick said, "Our [property and casualty] operations' 91.4 [fourth quarter] combined ratio benefited from outstanding performance from our reinsurance segment, positive prior year development and sustained operating efficiency."

XL Group said flooding in Australia let to $23.3 million in losses for the quarter, and additional losses in the 2011 first quarter from the flooding are expected to be between $75 million and $95 million.