Philadelphia Consolidated Reports 53.3% Increase in Q4 NOI to $13.8 Million; Up 34.5% for the Year

Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. (PCHC) reported that its net operating income (net income excluding after tax net realized investment gain/loss) increased 53.3% to $13.8 million ($0.62 diluted earnings per share) for the quarter ended December 31, 2002 compared to $9.0 million ($0.45 diluted earnings per share) for the same period in 2001.

The company’s overall net income for the period was $13.5 million ($0.61 diluted and $0.62 basic earnings per share), due to $0.3 million in capital losses compared to $9.1 million ($0.46 diluted and $0.48 basic earnings per share) for the same period last year. PCHC’s gross written premiums increased 39.7% to $156.0 million compared to $111.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2001 and the company’s combined ratio for the quarter was 90.7% vs. 91.1% for the same quarter in 2001.

The full year’s results showed that net operating income increased 34.5% to $38.2 million ($1.71 diluted earnings per share) compared to $28.4 million ($1.65 diluted earnings per share) for the same period in 2001. “Net income for the year ended December 31, 2002 was $36.0 million ($1.62 diluted and $1.67 basic earnings per share) vs. $30.6 million ($1.78 diluted and $1.85 basic earnings per share) for the same period in 2001,” said the announcement.

PCHC posted exactly the same figure for realized net capital losses last year, as it posted in gains in 2001 – $2.2 million. Gross written premiums increased 40.1% for the full year to $663.7 million vs. $473.6 million for the same period in 2001.

CEO James J. Maguire, Jr. commented, “During the fourth quarter, we continued to see abundant new business opportunities due largely to the disciplined marketing and underwriting efforts of our 36 field offices. In addition, renewal retention levels were in excess of 85% for most of our product lines. We have great momentum going into 2003, and I am confident in our ability to successfully execute our business plan.”