White Mountains Reports Fourth Quarter Results
White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. [WTM] reported book value per share of $1,259 and adjusted book value per share of $1,264 as of December 31, 2020.
Book value per share and adjusted book value per share both increased 15% in the fourth quarter of 2020. Book value per share and adjusted book value per share increased 23% and 24% in the year ended December 31, 2020, including dividends.
Manning Rountree, CEO, commented, “We had a strong fourth quarter to cap off an outstanding year. MediaAlpha completed a successful IPO, and investors drove its value higher during the quarter. BAM wrote $38 million of total premiums and member surplus contributions in the quarter, capping off a record year.
“NSM completed a solid year, with 3% quarter over quarter growth in pro forma controlled premiums and 8% quarter over quarter growth in pro forma adjusted EBITDA. Kudu had a strong finish to the year, benefiting from the move higher in investment markets while closing three transactions in the quarter. Our investment in Ark, which was announced on October 1, closed on January 1, 2021.
“Ark has hit the ground running with a good January renewal season, with gross written premium expected to be in excess of $270 million. Our investment portfolio [excluding MediaAlpha] returned 1.7% in the quarter. Our capital base is, for the time being, more or less fully deployed.”
Comprehensive income attributable to common shareholders was $495 million and $716 million in the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $65 million and $413 million in the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2019.
Results in the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2020 included $391 million and $746 million of net investment income and realized and unrealized investment gains from White Mountains’s investment in MediaAlpha, as well as $131 million from the release of a deferred tax liability as a result of an internal reorganization in connection with the MediaAlpha IPO.
Results in the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2019 included $33 million and $256 million of net investment income, realized gains and unrealized investment gains from White Mountains’s investment in MediaAlpha, $182 million of which was from MediaAlpha’s sale of a significant minority stake to Insignia Capital Group on February 26, 2019.
