White Mountains Reports Fourth Quarter Results
White Mountains Insurance Group reported book value per share of $1,176 and adjusted book value per share of $1,190 as of December 31, 2021.
Book value per share and adjusted book value per share both increased 1% in the fourth quarter of 2021. Book value per share and adjusted book value per share decreased 7% and 6% in the year ended December 31, 2021, including dividends.
Excluding net realized and unrealized investment losses from White Mountains’s investment in MediaAlpha, adjusted book value per share increased 3% in the fourth quarter and 4% in the year ended December 31, 2021, including dividends.
Manning Rountree, CEO, commented, “ABVPS grew 1% in the fourth quarter. Strong results from our operating companies were partially offset by a mark-to-market decline in the value of our investment in MediaAlpha. BAM produced $34 million of total premiums and member surplus contributions in the quarter, driven by continuing primary market demand for insurance.
“Ark produced good underwriting results for the quarter and the year, while growing full year premiums 78%. NSM finished the year with new highs for pro forma controlled premiums and pro forma adjusted EBITDA. Likewise, Kudu finished the year by producing strong growth in adjusted EBITDA, recording $27 million of gains in the fair value of its portfolio and closing two transactions in the fourth quarter. Excluding MediaAlpha, our investment portfolio returned 1.8% for the quarter and 6.4% for the full year. We completed share repurchases of $13 million for the quarter and $108 million for the full year. We finished the year with roughly $400 million of undeployed capital.”
The company noted, “Comprehensive income [loss] attributable to common shareholders was $34 million and $[273] million in the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2021 compared to $495 million and $716 million in the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2020.
“Results in the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2021 included $55 million and $380 million of net realized and unrealized investment losses from White Mountains’s investment in MediaAlpha. 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.”
