As Of               Filer                 Filing    For·On·As Docs:Size

 2/10/20  Everest Re Group Ltd              8-K:2,9     2/10/20   11:601K

Document/Exhibit                   Description                      Pages   Size 

 1: 8-K         Group 8-K 4Q2019                                    HTML     33K 
 5: EX-99.1     News Release 4Q19                                   HTML    208K 
 6: R1          Document And Entity Information                     HTML     45K 
 8: XML         IDEA XML File -- Filing Summary                      XML     11K 
11: XML         XBRL Instance -- re-20200211_htm                     XML     14K 
 7: EXCEL       IDEA Workbook of Financial Reports                  XLSX      6K 
 3: EX-101.LAB  XBRL Labels -- re-20200211_lab                       XML    144K 
 4: EX-101.PRE  XBRL Presentations -- re-20200211_pre                XML     56K 
 2: EX-101.SCH  XBRL Schema -- re-20200211                           XSD     10K 
10: JSON        XBRL Instance as JSON Data -- MetaLinks               17±    25K 
 9: ZIP         XBRL Zipped Folder -- 0001095073-20-000004-xbrl      Zip     29K 

 

EVEREST RE GROUP, LTD.

Seon Place, 141 Front Street, 4^th Floor, Hamilton HM 19, Bermuda

 

 

Everest Re Group Reports Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2019 Results

2019 Net Income of over $1 billion with a 12% Return on Equity

 

 

HAMILTON, Bermuda--(BUSINESS WIRE) – February 10, 2020 – Everest Re Group, Ltd. (“Everest” or the “Company”) today reported that for the full year ended December 31, 2019, net income was $1,009.5 million, or $24.70 per diluted common share, compared to net income of $89.0 million, or $2.17 per diluted common share, for the year ended December 31, 2018. After-tax operating income¹ for the year was $872.4 million, or $21.34 per diluted common share, compared to after-tax operating income¹ of $190.7 million, or $4.65 per diluted common share, for the same period in 2018.

 

For the fourth quarter 2019, the Company reported net income of $217.6 million, or $5.32 per diluted common share, compared to a net loss of $385.3 million, or ($9.58) per common share for the fourth quarter of 2018. After-tax operating income¹ was $130.8 million, or $3.20 per diluted common share, for the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to an after-tax operating loss of $236.9 million, or ($5.89) per common share, for the same period last year.

 

Commenting on the Company’s results, President and Chief Executive Officer, Juan C. Andrade said, “For the full year 2019, Everest produced net income of over $1 billion, the best result since 2014. On an ROE basis, this equates to a 12% return on average equity. These numbers speak to the strength and diversification of our business, and the strength of our underwriting and investment operations. Everest has a great franchise, a well-diversified platform and top talent.  We are well positioned for the future.”

 

Operating highlights for the full year 2019 included the following:

 

•          Gross written premiums for the year were $9.1 billion, an increase of 8% compared to 2018. Reinsurance premiums were up 2% to $6.4 billion with growth in treaty casualty more than offsetting reductions to treaty property premium and reinstatement premiums.  Insurance premiums were up 23% to $2.8 billion, with balanced growth being generated across all major business lines.

•          The combined ratio was 95.5% for the year, compared to 108.8% for 2018. Excluding catastrophe losses, reinstatement premiums and the favorable prior period loss development, the attritional combined ratio was 88.4% for the year, compared to 87.0% for 2018. 

•          Catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance and reinstatement premiums, amounted to $550.0 million in the year, primarily related to losses from Hurricane Dorian of $166.4 million and losses from Japanese Typhoons Faxai and Hagibis in the amount of $113.3 million and $190.0 million, respectively. 

•          Prior year reserve development for 2019 was reported in the amount of $93.6 million favorable, equal to 1.3 loss ratio points.

•          Net investment income amounted to $647.1 million for the year, an increase of 11%, including limited partnership income in the amount of $105.8 million. 

•          Net after-tax realized gains amounted to $150.8 million for the year, while net after-tax unrealized capital gains were $483.8 million.

•          Cash flow from operations was $1.9 billion for the full year 2019, compared to $610.1 million for 2018.

•          During 2019, the Company repurchased 114,633 shares at a total cost of $24.6 million. The repurchases were made pursuant to a share repurchase authorization, provided by the Company’s Board of Directors, under which there remains 1.3 million shares available.

Operating highlights for the fourth quarter of 2019 included the following:

 

•          Gross written premiums for the quarter were $2.4 billion, an increase of 7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2018. Reinsurance premiums, excluding the impact of reinstatement premiums, increased 4%, mainly due to growth in treaty casualty. Insurance premiums were up 30% to $758.7 million, with balanced growth being generated across all major business lines.

•          The combined ratio was 101.5% for the quarter, compared to 134.1% for the same period during 2018. Excluding catastrophe losses, reinstatement premiums and the favorable prior period loss development, the attritional combined ratio was 90.3% for the quarter, compared to 90.4% for the fourth quarter of 2018.

•          Catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance and reinstatement premiums, amounted to $215.0 million in the quarter, primarily related to losses from Japanese Typhoon Hagibis in the amount of $190.0 million and Tornadoes in Dallas, Texas in the amount of $25.0 million.

•          Prior year development for the quarter was reported in the amount of $19.2 million favorable, equal to 1.0 loss ratio point.

•          Net investment income amounted to $146.1 million for the quarter including limited partnership income in the amount of $5.5 million.

•          Net after-tax realized gains amounted to $61.1 million for the quarter, while net after-tax unrealized capital losses were $36.6 million.

 

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws.  We intend these forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements in the U.S. Federal securities laws.  These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements made on behalf of the Company. These risks and uncertainties include the impact of general economic conditions and conditions affecting the insurance and reinsurance industry, the adequacy of our reserves, our ability to assess underwriting risk, trends in rates for property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, competition, investment market fluctuations, trends in insured and paid losses, catastrophes, regulatory and legal uncertainties and other factors described in our latest Annual Report on Form 10-K.  The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

 

 

About Everest Re Group, Ltd.

 

Everest Re Group, Ltd. (“Everest”) is a leading global provider of reinsurance and insurance, operating for more than 40 years through subsidiaries in the U.S., Europe, Bermuda and other territories.

 

Everest offers property, casualty, and specialty products through its various operating affiliates located in key markets around the world.

 

Everest common stock (NYSE:RE) is a component of the S&P 500 index.

 

A conference call discussing the fourth quarter results will be held at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on February 11, 2020. The call will be available on the Internet through the Company’s web site at everestre.com/investors  or at www.streetevents.com. 

 

Additional information about Everest, our people, and our products can be found on our website at www.everestre.com.  All issuing companies may not do business in all jurisdictions.

 

Recipients are encouraged to visit the Company’s web site to view supplemental financial information on the Company’s results.  The supplemental information is located at www.everestre.com  in the “Financial Reports” section of the “Investor Center”.  The supplemental financial information may also be obtained by contacting the Company directly.

_____________________________

 

¹ The Company generally uses after-tax operating income (loss), a non-GAAP financial measure, to evaluate its performance.  After-tax operating income (loss) consists of net income (loss) excluding after-tax net realized capital gains (losses), after-tax net foreign exchange income (expense), and the tax charge related  to the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), as the following reconciliation displays:

 

 

Although net realized capital gains (losses) and net foreign exchange income (expense) are an integral part of the Company’s insurance operations, the determination of net realized capital gains (losses) and foreign exchange income (expense) is independent of the insurance underwriting process.  The Company believes that the level of net realized capital gains (losses) and net foreign exchange income (expense) for any particular period is not indicative of the performance of the underlying business in that particular period.  Providing only a GAAP presentation of net income (loss) makes it more difficult for users of the financial information to evaluate the Company’s success or failure in its basic business, and may lead to incorrect or misleading assumptions and conclusions.  The Company understands that the equity analysts who follow the Company focus on after-tax operating income (loss) in their analyses for the reasons discussed above.  The Company provides after-tax operating income (loss) to investors so that they have what management believes to be a useful supplement to GAAP information concerning the Company’s performance. 

 

Return on equity calculations use adjusted shareholders’ equity excluding net after-tax unrealized (appreciation) depreciation of investments.

 

 

 

Contact:

Everest Re Group, Ltd.

Jon Levenson, Head of Investor Relations

Investor.relations@everestre.com

Phone (908) 604-3169

 

 

 

--Financial Details Follow--