Arch Capital Earnings Leap 56 Percent
Bermuda-based Arch Capital Group Ltd.’s reported on Monday [Apr. 29] that its first-quarter earnings rose 56 percent as the insurance and reinsurance company saw its premiums and its foreign-exchange gains rise.
Like other global insurers, Arch Capital was helped last year by a relative absence of natural disasters, a lucky streak interrupted by Superstorm Sandy’s devastating impact in the Northeast US in late October.
For the latest quarter, Arch Capital posted a profit of $251 million, up from $157.8 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, which includes the impact of preferred dividends, earnings rose to $1.85 from $1.14.
On an operating basis, which excludes investment gains and losses, Arch Capital posted a per-share profit of $1.17 a share, up from 82 cents a year earlier.
Net premiums written climbed 10 percent to $952.8 million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share earnings of 96 cents on revenue of $933 million.
The combined ratio–or the percentage of each dollar in premiums paid out in claims and expenses–improved to 84.6 percent from 90.1 percent.
Net foreign-exchange gains were $25.7 million, compared with losses of $20.5 million a year earlier.
