2 February 2012 News

Transatlantic premiums down for fourth quarter

Transatlantic's fourth quarter results revealed a four percent decline in gross written premiums compared to the prior year quarter.

Overall the reinsurer suffered a net loss of $99 million for the whole of 2011, which the company attributed to heavy cat activity and the costs of Transatlantic’s merger activity. This included a $67 million fee paid to Allied World as part of their merger termination agreement.

However, the company’s chief executive, Michael Sapnar, remained upbeat, pointing out that despite these difficulties, Transatlantic’s book value per share had grown by 3.4 percent during 2011, as a result of the performance of the company’s non-catastrophe book, along with $261 million of share repurchases.

“Overall as we look to 2012, we are comfortable with our risk profile, given the product and geographic diversity of our exposures,” he says.

“Rate trends in the just completed January 1 renewal season developed as expected. Capacity in most classes of business remains plentiful although underwriters are taking a more selective approach. Pricing for catastrophe-exposed accounts improved, driven by both loss activity and industry model changes. We expect this to be the trend globally throughout 2012.”

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