PartnerRe Full Year Net Income Soars to $1.53 Billion; Q4 $354 Million
PartnerRe Ltd. shook off a rather dismal 2008 with a strong performance in 2009. The Bermuda-based reinsurer posted net income of $354.4 million, or $4.25 per share on a fully diluted basis for the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to $95.3 million in Q4 2008.
Operating earnings, which exclude capital gains/losses, for the fourth quarter of 2009 were $315.0 million, or $3.87 per share on a fully diluted basis, compared to operating earnings of $53.9 million, or $0.95 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2008.
For the year ended December 31, 2009, net income was $1.53 billion, or $23.51 per share, which included net after-tax realized and unrealized gains on investments of $497 million, or $7.78 per share, as well as a net after-tax gain of $57.0 million, or $0.89 per share, from the purchase of approximately 75 percent of the Company’s outstanding Capital Efficient Notes (CENts) in the first quarter of 2009.
Partner Re also gave the following Q4 financial figures:
— Net premiums written for the fourth quarter of 2009 were $904.4 million, compared to $752.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.
— Total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2009 were $1.5 billion, compared to $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, and included $1.3 billion of net premiums earned, up 36 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008;
— net investment income of $182.0 million – an increase of 26 percent over the fourth quarter of 2008; and pre-tax net realized and unrealized investment gains of $25.1 million as compared to pre-tax net realized and unrealized investment gains of $64.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2008.
For the full year of 2009 PartnerRe posted the following:
— net premiums written were $3.9 billion, essentially flat with 2008.
— Total revenues for the full year of 2009 were $5.4 billion, including $4.1 billion of net premiums earned, net investment income of $596.1 million,
— pre-tax net realized and unrealized investment gains of $591.7 million and a pre-tax gain of $88.4 million from the purchase of the CENts.
— Total revenues for the same period in 2008 were $4.0 billion, including $3.9 billion of net premiums earned, net investment income of $573.0 million, and pre-tax net realized and unrealized investment losses of $531.4 million.
In addition the earnings release noted that “during the fourth quarter of 2009, the Company completed its acquisition of PARIS RE.” It issued 24.2 million shares to complete the acquisition. “PARIS RE’s results have been included in the Company’s financial statements from October 2, 2009, the date of acquisition, and its technical results are reported as a separate Non-life sub-segment. Certain pro-forma comparative data for PARIS RE can be found in the Company’s fourth quarter 2009 Financial Supplement which is posted on PartnerRe’s website at www.partnerre.com.
President and CEO Patrick Thiele commented: “We had an exceptional year in 2009, achieving an operating return on beginning equity of 22 percent and GAAP book value per share growth of 32 percent. The Company also recently announced a 6 percent increase in the annual common dividend per share, marking the 17th consecutive year the Company has increased its dividend since inception. These results form part of PartnerRe’s long track record of success, which has seen the Company grow its GAAP book value per share plus dividends at a compounded rate of 13 percent over the last 5 years.”
As far as the near future is concerned, Thiele noted: “Our performance at the January 1, 2010 renewals confirmed an environment of stability for reinsurance market in total, and we expect that environment to continue for the remainder of the year.”
“The acquisition of PARIS RE means we are a larger and stronger Company with an attractively priced, balanced portfolio of risks. This, together with our strong market position and active capital allocation, will hold us in good stead through 2010. Barring any unusually large loss events in the year, we expect to achieve our financial goals.”
The full report and additional information may be obtained on the Company’s web site, as given above.
Source: PartnerRe