2023-04-20 16:46:16 ET
W.R. Berkley ( NYSE: WRB ) stock dipped 2% in Thursday after-hours trading after the insurer's Q1 adjusted earnings fell short of the Street consensus and retreated Q/Q and Y/Y as the combined ratio continued to increase.
"While there is greater evidence that market segments and lines of business are not all moving in lock-step, our structure and discipline enable us to execute on and manage each of these cycles to optimize profitability, even as we maintain a prudent view of loss trends," it said.
Q1 operating income of $1.00 per share, trailing the $1.24 consensus, slid from $1.16 in Q4 2022 and from $1.10 a year ago.
Net premiums written were $2.57B compared with $2.43B in the prior quarter and $2.41B in the year-earlier quarter.
Net investment income came in at $223.4M, down from $231.3M in Q4 2022 and up from $173.5M in Q1 2022.
Combined ratio rose to 90.6% from 88.4% in Q4 2022 and from 87.8% in Q1 2022.
Book value per share was $26.45 vs. $25.51 in the previous quarter and $24.58 a year before.
Pretax income/loss by segment:
- Insurance: $352.2M -- down 7.9% Y/Y
- Reinsurance & Monoline Excess: $101.7M -- up 76.5% Y/Y.
- Corporate and Eliminations: -$77.8M vs. $292.4M in Q1 2022.
Conference call at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Earlier, W.R. Berkley GAAP EPS of $1.06 misses by $0.21, revenue of $2.89B beats by $360M .
For further details see:
W.R. Berkley Q1 earnings weaker than expected on higher combined ratio