Cayman Islands-based reinsurer Greenlight Capital Re revealed its losses more than halved in the first quarter compared to the same period last year.
The reinsurer announced net losses of $4.8mn for Q1 2008 down from the $13.1mn in losses it announced for the same time last year.
David Einhorn, chairman of Greenlight Re, said: “We are pleased to report that the business continues to develop.
“We established significant new reinsurance relationships during the quarter, and entered 2008 with a relatively fresh investment portfolio while preserving capital in a very challenging market.”
The company – which was launched in late 2005 by hedge fund Greenlight Capital - saw an increase in net earned premiums from $20.9mn in the prior-year period to $27.5mn in Q1 2008 – gross written premiums almost doubled to $70.8mn from $38.1mn.
However, the company also revealed a net investment loss of $5.8mn, which it said represented a 0.9 percent loss on its invested assets.
Len Goldberg, CEO of Greenlight Re, said: “We believe our underwriting portfolio is well positioned in an increasingly competitive reinsurance market.”
“We continue to diversify our business by client, line of business, and broker, as well as by geography, and also increased the premium writings of our frequency portfolio during the quarter.
“We expect our earned premium and float to grow more significantly in upcoming quarters as a result of the business we have bound. We feel the softening market, together with a low interest rate environment, will highlight the strengths of our differentiated model.”
Greenlight’s combined ratio deteriorated to 96.4 percent from the prior-year period’s 94.1 percent.