Assured Guaranty Ltd. Reports 2013 Q3 Results
Bermuda-based Assured Guaranty Ltd. announced its financial results for the three-month period ended September 30, 2013 [third quarter 2013].
The Company reported operating income for third quarter 2013 of $117 million, or $0.64 per share, bringing operating income for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2013 [nine months 2013] to $475 million, or $2.51 per share. These compare with the three-month period ended September 30, 2012 [third quarter 2012] operating income of $166 million or $0.85 per share and the nine-month period ended September 30, 2012 [nine months 2012] operating income of $351 million or $1.85 per share.
Nine months 2013 operating income was higher than nine months 2012 operating income primarily due to lower loss expense. In third quarter 2013, the decline in operating income was primarily due to lower scheduled net earned premiums, partially offset by lower loss expense. Common share repurchases increased operating income per share by $0.08 for nine months 2013.
Third quarter 2013 net income was $384 million, or $2.09 per share, compared with third quarter 2012 net income of $142 million, or $0.73 per share. The main driver of the increase in third quarter 2013 net income was high non-economic net unrealized fair value gains. Nine months 2013 net income was $459 million, or $2.43 per share, compared with nine months 2012 net income of $36 million, or $0.19 per share. The increase in net income for nine months 2013 was primarily due to lower loss expense and lower non-economic net unrealized fair value losses.
“During the quarter, we continued to successfully execute on our strategic objectives, including the launch of MAC,” said Dominic Frederico, President and CEO. “The benefit of our broad-based strategy was clear in the third quarter as international infrastructure finance, structured finance and U.S. public finance all made contributions to new business production. Additionally, our alternative strategies continued to create significant value through R&W recoveries, improved RMBS servicing, wrapped bond purchases and transaction terminations. We also took important steps toward managing capital more efficiently within the Assured Guaranty group.”
