PARTNERRE STAYS IN RED FOR NINE MONTHS DESPITE Q3 INCOME

Bermudian reinsurer PartnerRe Ltd posted its second consecutive profitable quarter in Q3 but remained in the red for the first nine months of the year as it was unable to overcome a Q1 net loss of $807m. For the quarter, the group saw net income fall 66% to $180.1m, reflecting a 75% drop in underwriting income to $47m and a 91% decline in realized and unrealized investment gains to $26.1m. The Q3 combined ratio rose to 93.1% from 80.7%, with the current figure including 16.7 points from the added losses for the Japan and New Zealand quakes. For the nine months, PartnerRe swung to a net loss of $502.6m from income of $795.5m, as its underwriting loss ballooned to $854m from $21m and it swung to $7.9m in realized and unrealized losses from year-earlier gains of $484.6m. Earned premiums for the nine months fell 3% to $3.47bn while claims costs jumped 34% to $3.30bn, sending the combined ratio to 126.7% from 95.2%. The loss includes a $54m deficit primarliy related to insurance linked securities (ILS), of which $49m had already been attributed to the Q1 quake and tsunami in Japan.