PartnerRe plunges to loss, combined ratio climbs on large nat cats

Bermudian reinsurer  PartnerRe, now owned by  Covéa Coopérations, plunged to a sizeable loss in both the third quarter and nine months of 2022 as its underwriting profits for the non-life business declined due to large catastrophic losses, pushing Q3 combined ratio up to 106.9 percent.

The carrier posted a net loss of $387 million for Q3 2022, compared with a profit of $70 million for the same period of 2021. The figures for the first nine months of 2022 and 2021 were a loss of $1.53 billion and a profit of $317 million.

Its gross written premium (GWP) increased 3 percent for the quarter to $1.96 billion, and 8 percent for the first nine months to $6.94 billion. GWP in the third quarter was split as: P&C $1.1 billion, Specialty $451 million, and Life & Health $412 million.

The non-life underwriting loss was $100 million and combined ratio of 106.9 percent for the third quarter of 2022, while the non-life underwriting profit was $381 million and combined ratio of 90.7 percent for the first nine months of 2022. This compares to non-life underwriting profit of $4 million and combined ratio of 99.8 percent; and $194 million and combined ratio of 95.0 percent for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021, respectively.

The P&C segment reported a combined ratio of 112.0% and 91.9% for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2022, respectively, compared with 105.9% and 99.4% for the same periods of 2021, respectively.

During the three months ended September 30, the reinsurer suffered large losses of $300 million, mostly related to Hurricane Ian. For 9M, it saw large losses of $434 million related to Ian, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Natal Floods and the Australian Floods.

Jacques Bonneau (Pictured), PartnerRe’s president and chief executive officer, said: “Despite such a significant industry event, our continuous focus on portfolio optimization enabled us to deliver strong operating income of $439 million for the first nine months of the year, with an annualized operating return on equity that has nearly doubled to 9.1 percent. As we head into renewal season, our capital base remains strong, reinforced by the scale and capital strength of the Covéa group, and we are positioned to further increase the value that we provide to our clients, distribution partners, capital partners and other stakeholders.”

Covéa completed the acquisition of PartnerRe from EXOR Nederland on July 12 for total consideration of $772 million.

Did you get value from this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.