Catlin Group reports $99 million in cat losses for first half of year

Specialty property and casualty insurer and reinsurer Catlin Group has reported a before-tax net income of $145 million for the first half of the year, down from $231 million in the first six months of 2012.

The Bermuda-based company also reported net catastrophe losses of $99 million in the first six months ending June 30.

Catlin reported gross written premiums of about $3.3 billion, up from roughly $3 billion in the first half of last year. Net premiums written totaled around $2.4 billion, up from $2.3 last year.

Net premiums earned totaled about $1.9 billion, up from $1.7 billion last year.

Overall, the company reported a combined ratio of 88.9% for the first half of the year.

“Our attritional loss ratio remains low, and our net underwriting contribution matched last year’s record amount, despite incurring nearly $100 million in additional catastrophe claims in this year’s first half,” noted Stephen Catlin, the group’s CEO.

“Our global underwriting infrastructure continues to produce profitable growth,” he added. “The share of our gross premiums written – and more importantly net underwriting contribution – produced by the non-London/U.K. underwriting hubs continues to grow. We see further promising opportunities ahead.”

Total investment return for the first six months was $16 million, compared with $87 million last year.

“Our reported investment performance suffered due to mark-to-market reductions in the value of our fixed income portfolio caused by rising interest rates,” Catlin noted.

“The decrease in profits before tax compared with a year ago is the result of these movements. Catlin’s investment returns will ultimately benefit from higher interest rates.”