August 2005/1

Property catastrophe specialist IPC Re last week (26 July) reported net income of $64.1mn or $1.32 a share, down on the $74.1mn or $1.53 a share booked in the second quarter of 2004.

Wellington spin-off Aspen Re last week (27 July) reported second quarter net earnings of $83.8mn, or $1.16 a share, marginally ahead of the $80.9mn booked in the same period last year.

On the face of it, the scrutiny surrounding RenaissanceRe and its chairman and CEO Jim Stanard failed to halt the Bermudian’s progress in the second quarter of 2005 as it reported $172.0mn net income and $170.4mn operating income –up on the $148.1mn and..

As expected, Bermudian giant XL Capital last week (27 July) reported a 68 percent drop in second quarter earnings as the $191mn pre-tax reserve charge revealed earlier in the month fed through to the bottom line.

World's largest insurance broker Marsh & McLennan has announced that it will pay its new chief executive Michael Cherkasky at least $3.5mn in salary and bonus for 2005 under a new three-year employment contract.

Australian reinsurer QBE has bought National Farmers Union Property and Casualty Co (NFU), a small US insurer, for about $140mn in order to boost premium income.

Jardine Lloyd Thompson group plc plans to separate its reinsurance division into a new trading operation, JLT Re, that will begin trading next year as the broking group continues its drive to grow its reinsurance market share.

American insurer WR Berkley Corp announced a second-quarter earnings increase of 26 percent last Monday (25 July) and confidently predicted high returns into 2006.

CNA Surety Corporation has announced that it made a net loss for the second quarter of 2005. The loss of $11.9mn, or 28 cents a share, compared to net income of $10.2mn, or 24 cents a share, for the same period last year.

Bermudian reinsurer PartnerRe said it expects to write 5-10 percent less business in this year than in 2004, as it reported second quarter 2005 net income of $159.9mn or $2.72 a share, up from $119.8mn or $2.12 a share in the same period last year.

Bermudian post-9/11 start-up Endurance last week (26 July) announced second quarter net profit of $110.0mn, or $1.67 a share – marginally down on the $114.8mn or $1.69 a share earned in the prior-year period.

Bermuda’s Arch Capital Group Ltd reported second quarter net income of $126.0mn or $1.69 a share, an increase over the $104.3mn or $1.42 a share recorded in the same period last year as the company benefited from improved investment returns.