4 August 2015News

Endurance posts strong growth in Q2 despite challenging market conditions

Bermuda-based re/insurer Endurance Specialty posted a jump in profits and gross written premiums (GWP) in the second quarter of 2015, despite challenging market conditions.

The re/insurer posted profits of $76 million in the second quarter of 2015, compared with $75 million in the second quarter of 2014.

Endurance’s gross written premiums (GWP) also increased by an impressive 24.9 percent, reaching $861.2 million in the second quarter of 2015, compared with $689.4 million in the second quarter of 2014.

Its combined ratio also improved in the quarter to 85.5 percent, compared with 88.1 percent in the same period of the prior year.

Within its insurance segment, GWP soared 45.8 percent to $468.9 million, compared with $321.5 million in the same period of the prior year, driven by growth across all business lines.

Endurance’s reinsurance segment reported GWP growth of 6.6 percent to $392.3 million in the second quarter of 2015, compared with $367.9 million in the prior year quarter. This was driven by the professional lines and casualty lines of business, but partially offset by declines within the property, catastrophe and specialty lines of business.

John Charman, chairman and chief executive officer, said: "During the second quarter, we continued to deliver improved profitability by generating an operating return on equity (ROE) of 11.1 percent in spite of very challenging market conditions. We were also able to meaningfully expand our global specialty book of business as evidenced by our 25 percent growth in gross written premiums.

“These strong results continue to reflect the significant strategic improvements we have implemented over the past 30 months at Endurance. Our globally recognised, market leading underwriters are now firmly established and are attracting high-quality, historically profitable business.

“Our underwriters' careful risk selection and underwriting discipline remain critical in this very competitive rate environment and I am confident of our ability to continue to deliver strong financial results as well as creating exceptional value for our shareholders.

“Last week we announced the completion of our acquisition of Montpelier after both Endurance and Montpelier received overwhelming shareholder support for the transaction.  Having spent the last several months diligently planning, we have already begun to immediately integrate Montpelier into Endurance.  We are confident in our ability to materially exceed our original synergy estimates and to achieve our targeted strategic and financial objectives.”