XL Capital Q1 results poor

Bermuda insurer XL Capital revealed its third quarter of falling results blamed on investment losses but with falling property and casualty business

Financial highlights (2008 in brackets)

• Net income $178,379 down 16% ($211,873)
• Net income per share $0.53 down 55% ($1.19
• Operating income $212,442 down 23% ($276,867)
• Operating income per share $0.63 down 59% ($1.55)

P&C Operations Q1 (2008 in brackets)

• Gross Premiums Written $1,878,228 ($2,700,894)
• Net Premiums Written $1,505,311 ($2,136,553)
• Net Premiums Earned $1,321,687 ($1,552,780)
• $910.1m from insurance and $411.6m from the reinsurance
• Underwriting Income $104,903 ($108,07)
• Loss Ratio 59.8% (64.5%)
• Expense Ratio 33.2% (29.1%)
• Combined Ratio 93.0% (93.6%)
• Natural catastrophe losses $27.3m ($61.6m)

Investment performance (2008 in brackets)

• Investment fund loss $42.4m (profit $24.7m)
• Net investment income $348.0m ($499.2m)
• Net investment income from P&C operations $242.2m down 21.4%
• Pre-tax net realised investment losses $251.9m ($102.3m)

Chief executive officer, Michael McGavick, said: "I believe this first quarter performance demonstrates that XL is on solid footing and remains on track to deliver long-term shareholder value.

"The P&C operations' combined ratio of 93.0% in the first quarter is an improvement over the same quarter last year, and for the full year 2008. This strong result supports our intention to focus on those lines of business within our insurance and reinsurance operations that provide the best return on capital. While Gross Premiums Written have decreased this quarter, they are within the range of our expectations and confirm our strict adherence to underwriting discipline.”