Fewer disasters and new investments bump profits for White Mountains

White Mountains, managed out of Hanover but domiciled in Bermuda, has released its second quarter results, reporting a net income of $96 million, $70 million more than the second quarter of 2013.

The absence of major catastrophic losses and increased premiums saw the insurer reach profits of $191 million for the first half of the year.

The company’s two major segments, OneBeacon and Sirius Group performed well, making $31 million and $77 million in pre-tax earnings respectively. OneBeacon did well in its divisions most impacted by nature- specialty property and international marine underwriters- compared to the previous year, and made losses in professional insurance, entertainment and government lines.

Sirius on the other hand was still recovering from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, as well as from the tornadoes in Midwest America last year. This year however, it was primarily concerned with flooding in Europe.

In terms of investments, White Mountains made two large commitments over the summer. In June, it parted with $21 million to fund a joint venture with David Shield for the development, marketing and distribution of PassportCard travel insurance. This transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014, subject to regulatory approvals. In July, it acquired approximately 45 percent of durchblicker.at, Austria's first independent price comparison portal for insurance, gas/electricity and finance services for approximately $12 million. These are included in White Mountains' “Other” segment, a mix of smaller companies and investments, which made $4.1 million pre-tax.