AXIS Capital 2018 results improve but Benchimol disappointed in Q4

AXIS Capital posted a small profit in 2018 but company president and CEO Albert Benchimol admitted that results in the fourth quarter specifically were “unsatisfactory” as they were hit hard by property and catastrophe losses.

In 2018, the company's gross premiums written increased by $1.3 billion (24 percent) to $6.9 billion up from $5.6bn in 2017. This was driven by an increase of 35 percent in the insurance part of the business, mainly through the acquisition of Novae, plus an increase of 14 percent in the reinsurance segment.

The company reported a net income of $0.4 million for year end 2018 compared with a net loss of $416 million in the same period the year before. Its AXIS’s combined ratio improved to 99.9 percent in 2018 from 113.5 percent the year before.

In the fourth quarter alone, however, the re/insurer posted a net loss of $198 million compared with a net loss of $38 million in the same period the year before.

“In 2018, we delivered improved full-year underwriting performance, both with and without cats. Following three quarters in which we achieved tangible progress toward delivering on our financial goals, however, heavy attractional property and catastrophe activity led to unsatisfactory results in the fourth quarter,” Benchimol said.

“Throughout the past year, we took a number of significant actions to strengthen our portfolio and, over the past few months, we’ve accelerated these initiatives.

“Additionally, we anticipate that recent improvements in pricing and market discipline will also have a positive impact on the pace of our improvements. 2018 was a year in which we made significant progress in advancing our strategy and in strengthening our business.

“We furthered our relevance and positioning in key markets, including transitioning our London operations to a leading position at Lloyd’s with the integration of Novae, and we scaled up a transformation program that is improving our efficiency and our agility in a rapidly evolving market.”

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