Aspen says second-quarter net income was more than halved due to $58.7 million in catastrophe losses.
Second-quarter income was $40.1 million, compared to $84.6 million during the same period a year ago.
The company's gross written premiums increased overall by 3.1 percent to $687.3 million in the second quarter. Gross written premiums in the insurance business grew by 6.0 percent for the quarter, but were tempered by flat reinsurance growth.
Growth in the insurance segment was attributed to growth in global Marine, Energy and Construction Liability, Global Casualty and U.S. Programs, Professional Liability and Marine lines of insurance, Aspen says.
The combined ratio for the second quarter of the year was 97.1 percent versus 87.3 percent last year. Pretax catastrophe losses of $58.7 million added 10.9 points to the combined ratio, compared to no catastrophe losses in the second quarter of last year.
In its insurance segment, Aspen posted a second-quarter combined ratio of 99.8 compared to 92.2 a year ago. The insurance combined ratio included $6.9 million of pre-tax catastrophe reinsurance recoveries and reinstatement premiums related to U.S. hailstorms and tornadoes. Aspen also reported a favorable prior-year loss reserve development of $3.3 million compared with $14.5 million for the second quarter of 2012.
Aspen's combined ratio in its reinsurance segment was 88.9 percent this quarter compared with 79.0 percent for the second quarter of 2012. $51.8 million, or 19.4 percentage points, were related to flooding in Central Europe, Canada and India, and tornadoes and hailstorms in the U.S.
Aspen's six-month net income was $131.9 million in 2013, down from $163.3 million in 2012.
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