Axis Capital Holdings Ltd. AXS, -0.68% said its second-quarter operating earnings fell 50% on catastrophe losses related to natural disasters and weather events including the Fort Murray wildfires in Canada.
The Bermuda based insurer posted roughly $109 million in pretax catastrophe losses, $5 million higher than its recent guidance. In addition to the wildfires, the losses also stemmed from events such as earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador. A year earlier, Axis reported pretax catastrophe losses of $39 million.
Operating earnings are a widely watched benchmark for the insurance industry because they exclude realized capital gains and losses from companies’ investment portfolios, among other items that aren’t considered recurring on a quarterly basis.
Axis reported operating earnings of $47 million, or 51 cents a share, down from $94 million, or 93 cents a share, a year earlier.
Net premiums written increased 6.4% to $1.01 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share operating earnings of 32 cents and net premiums written of $984 million.
Over all, Axis reported a profit of $129.5 million, up from $73.4 million, a year earlier. On a per-share basis, which reflects preferred dividend effects, earnings rose to $1.29 from 63 cents.
Source: Market Watch