RE - Everest Re Group Reports First Quarter 2021 Results

Net Income of $342 Million Including $260 Million of Net Operating Income

14% Growth in Gross Written Premium with

Continued Attritional Underwriting Margin Improvement

Everest Re Group, Ltd. (“Everest” or the “Company”) today reported its 2021 first quarter results.

First Quarter 2021 Highlights

• Net income of $342 million equal to $8.52 per share
• Net operating income of $260 million, equal to $6.49 per share
• Gross written premium growth of 14% and net written premium growth of 16%
• Attritional combined ratio of 87.3%, a 2.5-point improvement year over year
• Underwriting income of $45 million inclusive of pre-tax net catastrophe losses of $270 million ($260 million net of reinstatement premiums)
• No change to the Covid-19 Pandemic (“Pandemic”) loss provision
• Combined ratio of 98.1%
• Operating cashflow of $904 million for the quarter

The following table summarizes the Company’s net income and related financial metrics.

Everest Re Group President & CEO Juan C. Andrade commented on the Company’s results:

“Firstly, our thoughts are with those impacted by the U.S. winter storms and the flooding in Australia. I am very proud of the work our claims team is doing on the ground to help those affected rebuild their lives.

Everest had a strong start to 2021 with robust growth, strong overall profitability, continued improvement in attritional underwriting margins, and excellent investment performance. Our first quarter results further illustrate the earnings power of Everest and our success in implementing our strategy to build a broadly diversified company with a relentless focus on strong operational performance and disciplined underwriting.”

The following information summarizes the Company’s underwriting results, on a consolidated basis and also by segment – Reinsurance and Insurance, with selected commentary on results by segment.

Reinsurance segment

• The Reinsurance segment achieved strong growth with gross written premiums up 16% for the quarter, driven by a successful January 1 renewal season. The targeted and disciplined growth was driven by rate, increased shares on profitable deals, and new opportunities in property, casualty, specialty lines, and facultative business.

• The improved attritional combined ratio for the quarter included proactive underwriting actions to improve risk adjusted returns and achieve a lower loss ratio, while the acquisition expense ratio declined primarily due to changes in business mix. We continue to write a stronger, more diversified, and more profitable book.

• The April renewal season was successfully completed with the Reinsurance segment capturing rate increases on Japanese and retrocessional business and pro-rata business benefitting from primary rate improvement.

Insurance segment

• The Company’s Insurance segment achieved strong growth with gross written premiums, up 10% for the quarter (20% excluding worker’s compensation) with notable growth in specialty casualty, property/short-tail and professional liability classes of business, offset by reductions in workers’ compensation as we purposely sought growth in lines with more attractive pricing.

• The improved attritional combined ratio for the quarter reflected a more profitable mix of business resulting from continued disciplined cycle management, with reductions in both the loss and expense ratios.

• Continued strong rate growth in excess of trend with renewal rate increases of 16% in the quarter excluding workers compensation, and up 10% including workers compensation.

Investments and Shareholders’ Equity

• Net investment income of $260.4 million for the quarter including alternative investment gains of $120.3 million for the quarter
• Total invested assets and cash of $25.9 billion at March 31, 2021, 1.9% growth versus year end 2020
• Shareholders’ equity remained flat at $9.7 billion as of March 31, 2021, versus year end 2020
• Book value per diluted share of $241.57 at March 31, 2021
• Common share dividends declared and paid in the quarter of $1.55 per share, equal to $62.2 million
• Common share repurchases of $23.5 million during the quarter, representing 97,462 shares at an average price of $241.58 per share

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. We intend these forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements in the U.S. Federal securities laws. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements made on behalf of the Company. These risks and uncertainties include the impact of general economic conditions and conditions affecting the insurance and reinsurance industry, the adequacy of our reserves, our ability to assess underwriting risk, trends in rates for property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, competition, investment market and investment income fluctuations, trends in insured and paid losses, catastrophes, pandemic, regulatory and legal uncertainties and other factors described in our latest Annual Report on Form 10-K. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Everest Re Group, Ltd.

Everest Re Group, Ltd. (“Everest”) is a leading global provider of reinsurance and insurance, operating for close to 50 years through subsidiaries in the U.S., Europe, Singapore, Canada, Bermuda, and other territories.

Everest offers property, casualty, and specialty products through its various operating affiliates located in key markets around the world.

Everest common stock (NYSE:RE) is a component of the S&P 500 index.

Additional information about Everest, our people, and our products can be found on our website at www.everestre.com . All issuing companies may not do business in all jurisdictions.

A conference call discussing the second quarter results will be held at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on April 29, 2021. The call will be available on the Internet through the Company’s web site at everestre.com/investors .

Recipients are encouraged to visit the Company’s web site to view supplemental financial information on the Company’s results. The supplemental information is located at www.everestre.com in the “Investors/Financial Reports/Quarterly Reports” section of the website. The supplemental financial information may also be obtained by contacting the Company directly.

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The Company generally uses after-tax operating income (loss), a non-GAAP financial measure, to evaluate its performance. After-tax operating income (loss) consists of net income (loss) excluding after-tax net realized capital gains (losses) and after-tax net foreign exchange income (expense) as the following reconciliation displays:

Although net realized capital gains (losses) and net foreign exchange income (expense) are an integral part of the Company’s insurance operations, the determination of net realized capital gains (losses) and foreign exchange income (expense) is independent of the insurance underwriting process. The Company believes that the level of net realized capital gains (losses) and net foreign exchange income (expense) for any particular period is not indicative of the performance of the underlying business in that particular period. Providing only a GAAP presentation of net income (loss) makes it more difficult for users of the financial information to evaluate the Company’s success or failure in its basic business and may lead to incorrect or misleading assumptions and conclusions. The Company understands that the equity analysts who follow the Company focus on after-tax operating income (loss) in their analyses for the reasons discussed above. The Company provides after-tax operating income (loss) to investors so that they have what management believes to be a useful supplement to GAAP information concerning the Company’s performance.

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210428006040/en/

Media: Dane Lopes
Chief Communications Officer
Everest Global Services, Inc.
203.388.3977

Investors: Jon Levenson
Head of Investor Relations
Everest Global Services, Inc.
908.604.3169