February 2006/4

US insurer WR Berkley Corp reported full-year net income of $545mn, or $4.08 per share, a 24 percent increase from $438mn, or $3.31 cents per share, for 2004. Results for the final quarter of 2005 were even more impressive, with a...

Transatlantic Holdings, the parent of Transatlantic Re, has announced 2005 net profits of $37.9mn, down from $254.6mn in 2004 after booking a fourth quarter net profit of $13.5mn, compared to $98.9mn in the prior-year period. Like many of its peers...

Chicago-based insurer CNA Financial posted a fourth quarter net loss of $217mn, or 92 cents per share, down from a net profit of $303mn, or $1.11 per share, in 2004. The company was hit by $223mn in commuted reinsurance contracts and...

Post-9/11 (re)insurer Endurance reported a 2005 net loss of $220.5mn, or $3.60 a share, a reversal of the $355.6mn, or $5.28 per share net profit made in the previous year, as it shared the hurricane-hit woes of its compatriots.

Partner Re joined the fourth quarter 2005 loss-makers as it reported a net loss of $33.6mn, or 76 cents a share, compared to a net profit of $143.7mn in the last three months of 2004. The company’s operating loss, stripping out net after-tax...

Arch Capital was one of the few Bermudian (re)insurers to book a 2005 fourth quarter profit as it shrugged off relatively light hurricane losses and reported net profits of $100.9mn, or $1.34 a share – and increase on the $107.1mn or $1.45 a share...

Despite posting a fourth quarter net profit of $30.3mn or 31 cents a share, Aspen Insurance Holdings was unable to turn around a hurricane-struck year, joining a growing band of Bermudians to book a 2005 deficit as it announced a net loss of $177.8mn...

Bermuda-based (re)insurer White Mountains reported an 87 percent fall in adjusted comprehensive net income for 2005, booking $68mn, compared to $539mn in 2004. The fall was largely due to $288mn after-tax hurricane losses at White Mountains Re...

Montpelier Re – one of the (re)insurers worst hit by last autumn’s storms – has reported a 2005 net loss of $752.9mn, or $10.49 a share, dramatically reversing the $240.3mn or $10.92 a share net profit made in the previous year.

The future of Bermuda’s PXRE is in doubt after the hurricane-decimated reinsurer admitted that it would “explore strategic alternatives” after losing its crucial A- (Excellent) AM Best financial strength rating.

A letter written by broker JLT Group’s then chief executive Steve McGill in March 2002 expressing concerns over the management of Cable & Wireless’s (C&W) captive insurer Pender Insurance is thought to have become a significant factor in the settlement...