Frontier Reports $13.6M First Quarter Net Loss
Frontier Insurance Group Inc. announced its first quarter 2000 unaudited results. The report shows a net loss of $13.6 million for that period compared to net income of $13.1 million for the first quarter of 1999. In addition, Frontier recorded a net loss of $0.40 on a per share basis for the first quarter 2000 compared to net income of $0.33 for the same period last year. Those figures exclude the operations of the Lyndon Insurance Group, which was sold in January 2000.
According to a company press release, several one-time events impacted the first quarter 2000 results. Included in realized capital gains are $1.2 million on the sale of Lyndon as well as $1.6 million on the early termination of an interest rate swap. The company also reported that earnings were positively impacted by $1.0 million as a result of the commutation of the Unicover reinsurance arrangement.
Offsets to those gains include one-time expenses of $4.5 million for the termination of the ManagedComp acquisition, $2.7 million for severance charges, a $2.5 million write-off of goodwill related to the closing of two operations and $0.6 million of other charges. Moreover, Frontier’s non-insurance operations and certain equity investees showed a $5.3 million loss during the first quarter 2000.
The net impact of both the one-time events and losses in non-underwriting businesses were included in the $12.3 million pre-tax loss recorded in the first quarter 2000. Also in that, Frontier’s net premiums earned as well as gross and net premiums written increased over the 1999 first quarter by 24.3 percent, 10 percent and 19.3 percent, respectively. Net investment increased 1.5 percent over the 1999 first quarter.
Also up in the first quarter 2000 were total revenues, which totaled $170.1 million, a 23.1 percent increase over the comparable 1999 quarter. Total expenses increased 52.9 percent over the 1999 first quarter, and the combined ratio for the first quarter 2000 was 118.1 percent compared to 95.1 percent for the same period last year.