W.R. Berkley revenues rise in third quarter
GREENWICH — Insurance giant W.R. Berkley Corp. this week reported rising revenues and an underwriting profit for the past quarter, as it dealt with the ongoing disruption of the coronavirus crisis and a number of natural disasters.
Third-quarter revenues for the Greenwich-headquartered firm totaled about $2 billion, up 4 percent from the same period in 2019.
Berkley’s bottom line for the third quarter amounted about $152 million, compared with $165 million from the same period a year ago. The decrease reflected greater losses and loss-related expenses. There were an above-average number of
windstorms, named hurricanes making landfall and West Coast wildfires in the quarter — equating to a $73 million impact, according to company officials.
“2020 — clearly a year, the industry and all of us
will not forget anytime soon, and, additionally, in many respects, a year that hopefully will not be repeated,” Berkley CEO and President W. Robert Berkley Jr. said Tuesday during an earnings call with investment analysts. “If COVID-19 wasn’t enough, then frequency of severity around cat(astrophic) activity is really testing society.”
Despite 4.2 points of catastrophe losses, Berkley still recorded a combined ratio of 93.7 per
cent for the past quarter, compared with 93.6 percent a year ago. The ratio measures the percentage of premiums used to cover losses and underwriting expenses. Any ratio less than 100 reflects an underwriting profit.
During the third quarter, the company saw 8 percent growth, to $2.3 billion, in gross written premiums. GWP comprises an industry measure of life insurance premiums due and general insurance premiums underwritten in a given period, not including deductions for reinsurance.
“If there is any silver lining in this (year’s events) … perhaps it provides an opportunity for the insurance industry to demonstrate the value it brings to society,” said Berkley, the CEO. “Our thoughts are very much with those directly and indirectly impacted by those circumstances.”
In the past quarter, the company also reiterated its commitment to Fairfield County with one of the area’s largest lease deals of the year.
Last month, subsidiary Berkley Insurance Co. signed a lease for about 63,000 square
feet at the Metro Center office complex in downtown Stamford.
BIC is set to relocate in the summer of 2021 and occupy through 2033 one-and-a-half floors at Metro Center, which stands across the street from the downtown Metro-North Railroad station. BIC is now based a few blocks east at 301 Tresser Blvd.
Berkley, the No. 402 company on this year’s Fortune 500 list, is headquartered at 475 Steamboat Road in central Greenwich.