WR Berkley Corporation improves earnings in Q2
WR Berkley Corporation improves earnings in Q2 | Insurance Business America
Insurance News
WR Berkley Corporation improves earnings in Q2
“Outstanding returns” expected to be delivered to shareholders for the rest of 2024
Insurance News
By
Terry Gangcuangco
WR Berkley Corporation has released its earnings report for the second quarter and first half of 2024.
Here’s how the company performed in the periods:
Metric
Q2 2024
Q2 2023
H1 2024
H1 2023
Gross premiums written
$3.72 billion
$3.34 billion
$7.08 billion
$6.39 billion
Net premiums written
$3.13 billion
$2.81 billion
$5.98 billion
$5.39 billion
Net income to common stockholders
$371.9 million
$356.3 million
$814.4 million
$650.4 million
Operating income
$418.1 million
$310.9 million
$841.3 million
$586.5 million
Return on equity
20%
21.1%
21.8%
19.3%
According to the insurance group, its net investment income also grew in the quarter, by 51.8% to a record $372.1 million. This was attributed to an increase in fixed-maturity income from a growing portfolio with higher yields.
“We anticipate that the company’s new money rate will remain higher than the current yield of our fixed-maturity securities for the foreseeable future,” it shared. “Coupled with our increasing investment portfolio from continuing record cash flow, we remain well-positioned for further investment income growth.”
Meanwhile, the total capital returned to shareholders amounted to $381.3 million. Broken down, this consisted of $223.8 million in share repurchases, $127 million in special dividends, and $30.5 million in regular dividends.
“Continued strong underwriting and investment income drove our 20% annualized return on beginning of year common stockholders’ equity in the second quarter,” WR Berkley Corporation went on to note.
“Market conditions remained favorable in many areas of our business, fueling growth in net premiums written of 11.2%. Our combined ratio was 91.1% inclusive of 3.2 loss ratio points of catastrophe losses.”
The firm added: “Our decentralized structure and consistent focus on long-term risk-adjusted return allow us to effectively operate in a rapidly-changing environment. We continue to believe that expertise matters in both underwriting and investing.
“The company expects to continue to deliver outstanding returns to our shareholders for the remainder of 2024 and beyond.”
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