XL posts net loss of $474.8 million for 2011

The reinsurer posted a net loss of almost half a billion dollars for last year, despite gross written premiums increasing to $6,898 in 2011, from $6,261 in 2010.

While acknowledging the losses, XL’s chief executive officer Mike McGavick said that he wanted the company’s results to be viewed within the broader perspective of their goals and strategy.

“XL was clearly impacted in 2011, like companies throughout the property and casualty industry, by a year that suffered from one of the largest aggregate worldwide catastrophe losses in history, including, most recently, the devastating Thailand floods,” he said.

“While we believe XL’s catastrophe loss profile, relative to our peers, showed the effectiveness of our risk management process, we also again experienced an unacceptable level of non-catastrophe insurance losses in isolated underwriting areas.

“We will not shy away from our 2011 results, including a frustrating fourth quarter and full year 2011, and a significant non-cash charge to eliminate the Insurance segment’s goodwill reflecting continuing low valuations in our sector.”