Greenwich property and casualty insurer W.R. Berkley Corp. posted a lower fourth-quarter profit, which missed analysts’ expectations, hurt by investment losses and dwindling premium income.
Berkley reported a fourth-quarter net profit of $40.3 million, compared with a profit of $184.1 million, or 97 cents a share, a year earlier.
Operating income fell 44 percent to $103.4 million, or 62 cents a share.
Analysts on average expected the company to earn 77 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Net premiums earned dropped 11 percent to $1.04 billion. The company also recorded realized investment losses of $108.8 million.
“While price competition continues, we are beginning to see selective rate increases in some lines of business. We anticipate consequential improvement in the pricing environment by the end of this year,” Chief Executive William Berkley said. (Reuters)
