AXIS admits disappointment after reporting a $151m loss in 2020
AXIS Capital admitted it was disappointed with its results for 2020, having reported a loss for the year, after recording a comfortable profit in 2019.
The re/insurer reported a net loss of $151 million for the full year 2020, having made a $282 million profit in 2019.
It made a net loss of $5 million in Q4, compared to a $10 million loss in the same period of the previous year.
AXIS reported a combined ratio of 109.6 percent for both the full year and Q4 periods in 2020. That was up from 102.6 percent for the full year 2019, and from 107.3 percent for Q4 2019.
Gross written premiums for the full year 2020 came in at $4.02 billion, up from $3.68 billion in 2019. For Q4 2020, gross written premiums were $1.1 billion, up from $961.6 million in the same period the previous year.
Albert Benchimol, president and chief executive officer of AXIS Capital, said it has been a “year of tremendous challenge.”
He said: The combined impact of the pandemic, which affected both our underwriting and investment results, and elevated hurricane activity that made 2020 the fifth costliest cat year on record, led to disappointing financial results that overshadowed significant underlying progress.”
