PartnerRe Rebounds; Posts $566.7 Million Q3 Net; $1.2 Billion 9 Months

Bermuda-based PartnerRe Ltd. reported net income of $566.7 million, or $9.44 per share on a fully diluted basis for the third quarter of 2009. The bulletin said the figure “includes after-tax net realized and unrealized gains on investments of $274.4 million, or $4.64 per share.” The rise in net income also signals an impressive recovery, compared to the loss of $151.7 million, or $3.01 per share, that PartnerRe recorded in the third quarter of 2008.

Operating earnings for the third quarter of 2009 were $282.1 million, or $4.77 per share on a fully diluted basis, compared to operating earnings of $121.3 million, or $2.27 per share, for the third quarter of 2008.

Net income for the first nine months of 2009 was $1.2 billion, or $19.95 per share. The figure “includes after-tax net realized and unrealized gains on investments of $479.4 million, or $8.27 per share, as well as an after-tax net gain of $57.0 million or $0.98 per share from the purchase of approximately 75 percent of the Company’s outstanding Capital Efficient Notes (CENts) in the first quarter of 2009,” said the bulletin. PartnerRe posted a $48.7 million, or $1.38 per share, loss for the same period in 2008.

Operating earnings for the first nine months of 2009 were $617.1 million, or $10.64 per share on a fully diluted basis. This compares to operating earnings of $415.4 million, or $7.70 per share, for the first nine months of 2008.

Partner Re also lowered is non-life combined ratio to 78.1 percent for the Q3 2009, compared to 95.5 percent in Q3 2008. The combined ratio for the first nine months of 2009 was 82.5 percent, compared to 91.4 percent for the same period of 2008.

PartnerRe President and CEO Patrick Thiele commented: “PartnerRe had another excellent quarter and first nine months of 2009, with both its reinsurance and capital markets activities performing well. For the first nine months of 2009, we achieved an operating return on beginning equity of 22 percent, and 30 percent growth in GAAP book value per share.

Our reinsurance results benefited from a low level of large losses while our investment operations continued to participate fully in the improvement experienced by the global capital markets.”

Thiele also noted that the “non-life market overall remains unchanged – stable to gradually deteriorating; and without any precipitating events, there will likely be a continuation of those trends in 2010.”

He added that the Company’s “acquisition of PARIS RE enhances an already well-balanced portfolio of attractively priced risks. The integration of PARIS RE into the PartnerRe group will provide us with both increased diversification of reinsurance and capital markets risk, and, with expanded capital and resources, significant growth opportunities at a time when industry demand is likely to remain stagnant. We are confident that the larger and stronger PartnerRe will be better able to achieve its financial goals, with reduced risk.”

The full report is available on the Company’s web site at: www.partnerre.com.

Source: PartnerRe