Swiss insurer Allied World Assurance Co. Holdings AG, with Farmington operations, will proceed with its dividend despite falling into the red in the fourth quarter.
Allied World said it pay March 12 a quarterly dividend equal to 37 ½ cents a share to shareholders of record on March 5.
The payout will be n the form of a par value reduction. The amount of the par value reduction in Swiss francs will be based on the currency exchange rate as published by The Wall Street Journal on Feb. 26.
Allied says this is the fourth of four partial par value reductions for dividends that were approved by the company’s shareholders at last May’s annual meeting.
Recently, Allied posted a fourth-quarter operating loss of $1.58 per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate loss of $1.91, according to Zacks. In the fourth quarter of 2011, the company reported operating earnings of $2.40 per share.
Including net realized investment gains of 43 cents and foreign exchange loss of 2 cents, Allied World reported a net loss of $1.17 per share in the fourth quarter, compared to net income of $4.63 per share in the year-ago period, Zacks said.
