White Mountains profits soar in Q2, but swings to loss in H1 2020

Bermuda-based White Mountains Insurance Group enjoyed a profitable second quarter 2020, benefiting from the rebound in investment markets, but reported a loss for the half-year ending June 30.

The insurer reported a net profit of $115.4 million for Q2 2020, up from $20.5 million in the same period of 2019. In the first half of the year it reported a net loss of $17 million, having made a profit of $302 million in the first six months of 2019.

Manning Rountree, chief executive at White Mountains, described it as “a good second quarter”, noting that Build America Mutual (BAM) had written $43 million of direct premiums and member surplus contributions, its biggest quarter ever, driven by robust demand for insurance and higher pricing. In the same period of 2019 BAM reported total gross written premiums of $24.5 million.

For the first six months of 2020 BAM reported gross written premiums of $63 million, compared to $40 million for the first six months of 2020.

Rountree continued that its NSM business saw 2 percent organic growth in controlled premiums, quarter over quarter. "During the quarter, we repurchased $31 million of shares at an average price of $887. We ended the quarter with $0.8 billion of undeployed capital and ample liquidity,” he concluded.