W.R. Berkley Corp. Notes 89% Increase in Q3 Net Income

W. R. Berkley Corporation reported third quarter net income of $76 million, or 87 cents per share, up from $41 million, or 52 cents per share, a year ago.

Net operating income for the third quarter of 2003 was $74 million, or 84 cents per share, compared with $42 million, or 54 cents per share, for the third quarter of 2002. Per share amounts have been adjusted to reflect the 3-for-2 common stock split effected on Aug. 27.

Third quarter highlights include:

— Net income increased 89 percent to $76 million compared with $41 million in the year-earlier period

— Net after-tax operating return on equity for the quarter was 22.2 percent on an annualized basis

— Net premiums written rose to $940 million, an increase of 37 percent from the comparable quarter of 2002

— GAAP combined ratio improved by 3.9 percentage points to 91.7 percent from 95.6 percent in the prior year period

— Cash flow from operations increased 38 percent to $420 million compared with $303 million in the year-earlier period

— The paid loss ratio decreased to 36.2 percent from 47.3 percent in the prior year quarter