Greenwich, CT – W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) recently reported its fourth quarter and full year 2021 results.
Fourth quarter highlights included:
- Return on equity of 18.7%.
- Record quarterly underwriting income of $260.9 million.
- Net premiums written increased 26.6%.
- The current accident year combined ratio before catastrophe losses of 2.2 loss ratio points was 86.0%.
- The reported combined ratio was 88.2%, including catastrophe losses of $48.5 million.
- Average rate increases excluding workers’ compensation were approximately 9.3%.
- Total capital returned to shareholders was $199.6 million, consisting of $176.7 million of special dividends and $22.9 million of regular dividends.
Full year highlights included:
- Record full year underwriting income and net income of $845.3 million and $1.0 billion, respectively.
- Return on equity of 16.2%.
- Record gross and net premiums written grew 20.9% and 22.0% to $10.7 billion and $8.9 billion, respectively.
- Average rate increases excluding workers’ compensation were approximately 10.4%.
- Operating cash flow increased 35.1% to approximately $2.2 billion.
- Book value per share grew 12.5%, before dividends and share repurchases.
- Total capital returned to shareholders was $478.1 million, including $265.3 million of special dividends, $90.4 million of regular dividends and $122.4 million of share repurchases.
- Formed two new operating units, Berkley Management Protection and Berkley Small Business Solutions.
The Company commented:
The Company had another outstanding quarter, which together with strong performance in the first nine months of 2021, led to a record year on many fronts, despite catastrophe losses and continuing low interest rates. The fourth quarter was highlighted by more than 26% growth in net premiums written and an 18.7% annualized return on equity.
Robust premium growth was driven by continued strong rate increases in nearly all lines of business combined with higher exposure growth. Record underwriting income in the quarter reflected year-over-year margin improvement and a further reduction in the expense ratio. We anticipate that the factors fueling the Company’s growth should remain in place for the foreseeable future and that compounding rate increases in excess of loss trend will further contribute to underwriting profits as premiums are fully earned.
Our investment portfolio also performed extremely well in both the quarter and full year. Through our total return strategy, including our allocation to alternative investments, we seek to maximize our investment portfolio’s risk-adjusted returns. In addition, we maintain a short duration in our fixed-maturity portfolio, which has limited the impact of rising interest rates on book value.
Our decentralized business model, built on a culture of innovation with specialized teams of people having extensive knowledge and expertise, allows us to quickly and effectively respond to opportunities in the marketplace. This structure enables us to maintain appropriate discipline throughout the market cycle and achieve robust growth in revenues and earnings when margins improve. Our underwriting and investment portfolios are well-positioned for the anticipated inflationary environment. The Company is performing exceptionally well and we look forward to another great year in 2022.
The complete results release is available here: W. R. Berkley Corporation Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Results.
Source: WR Berkley