Enstar reports Q2 profit boost

Enstar, which is based in Bermuda but owns insurance assets all over the world including insurer StarStone, has announced that it made a profit of $90.2 million for the second quarter of 2017, up on the $40.6 million it reported for the same period of 2016.

The quarterly result takes the company to a first half 2017 profit of $144.9 million, again up on the $86.1 million it made for the six months ended June 30, 2016.

However, the company also reported that net earned premiums fell, going from $208.7 million in the second quarter of 2016 to $155.6 million in the same quarter of 2017. Similarly net earned premiums over the half-year also fell, going from $401.6 million in the first six months of 2016 to $304.5 million in the same period of 2017.

Net premiums written by Enstar’s non-life run-off, Atrium, StarStone and life and annuities segments totalled $149.5 million for the second quarter of 2017, down from the $219.7 million it wrote over the same period of 2016.

At the same time net investment income went up slightly, going from $95.2 million in the first half of 2016 to $98.1 million in the first half of 2017.

The company said that so far this year it had entered into ‘significant’ new business. In February it entered into an agreement to reinsure the UK employers' liability legacy business of RSA Insurance Group, assuming gross insurance reserves of $1.3 billion relating to 2005 and prior year business.

Enstar also closed a transaction to reinsure multi-line property and casualty business of QBE Insurance Group in January, assuming gross reinsurance reserves of approximately $1 billion relating to the portfolio, which primarily includes workers' compensation, construction defect, and general liability discontinued lines of business.

In May it also entered into a definitive agreement to sell Laguna Life for a total consideration of €25.6 million (approximately $29.2 million) to a subsidiary of Monument Re.