White Mountains reports rise in Q1 2017 profits
White Mountains has announced that net income for the first three months of 2017 came to $34.3 million, a substantial rise on the $13 million it posted for the same period of 2016.
However, earned insurance premiums fell year on year, going from $282.1 million in the first quarter of 2016 to $264.8 million in the same period of 2017.
“It was a solid first quarter for White Mountains,” said CEO Manning Rountree. “We increased adjusted book value per share by 1 percent, including roughly half a point of one-time compensation and severance expenses. OneBeacon had a nice quarter, producing a 95 percent combined ratio. BAM posted its best quarter since inception for pricing, total premiums and growth in claims paying resources. The investment portfolio returned 1.5 percent, a good result.”
Rountree added: “Separately, OneBeacon announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Intact Financial in an all-cash transaction for $18.10 per share, or roughly 1.65x tangible book value. Upon closing, this transaction will mark the end of a long and successful chapter in White Mountains's history. We thank Mike Miller and the OneBeacon management team for their many contributions, and we wish them all the best going forward. The transaction will increase our adjusted book value per share by a further 13 percent and our undeployed capital position by $1.3 billion, from $1.8 billion to $3.1 billion. We are pursuing new opportunities with energy, rigor and discipline.”
White Mountains said that its other operations segment reported pre-tax income of $7 million in the first quarter of 2017, compared to pre-tax loss of $29 million in the first quarter of 2016. The improved results were driven by higher investment returns. The other operations segment reported $35 million of net realized and unrealized gains in the first quarter of 2017, compared to $6 million in the first quarter of 2016. The other operations segment reported $11 million of net investment income in the first quarter of 2017, compared to $1 million in the first quarter of 2016.
