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Fitch: U.S. Property/Casualty Insurers Report Improved 2013 ResultsNEW YORK --(Business Wire)-- U.S. Property/casualty insurers' operating performance improved in 2013, according to a new Fitch Ratings report. The improvement is largely a result of lower catastrophe-related losses and reductions in the core loss ratio from premium rate increases across many product segments. The aggregate combined ratio of 48 publicly traded property/casualty (re)insurers improved by 5.2 percentage points to 93.3%. Only four companies of these 48 companies posted a 2013 combined ratio above 100%. The accident-year loss ratio (excluding catastrophe losses) improved by 1.3 points. The group's aggregate operating earnings increased by 30% versus 2012, while the 2013 operating return on equity improved to 8.8% from 7.3% in 2012. Only seven of the 48 companies in the group had a lower year-over year operating ROE. Reinsurers posted the most improved underwriting performance, as well as the highest operating ROE of any industry subsectors. This result is not surprising given the low catastrophe activity in 2013. Favorable prior period loss reserve development continues to boost underwriting performance, representing approximately 2.6% of earned premium in 2013 versus 2.9% in the prior year. A few individual insurers experienced unfavorable development in 2013. Fitch continues to believe that, after recognizing significant reserve redundancies over the last five years, the P/C industry loss reserve position is gravitating toward adequate levels. Underwriting results and operating profitability for 2013 could represent peak results for the next few years. Pricing gains have slowed in primary lines and property reinsurance rates declined at the Jan. 1 renewal.
Despite expected declines in near-term profitability, Fitch expects the P/C industry's overall profile to remain broadly supportive of current ratings. The full report, 'U.S. Property/Casualty Insurers' 2013 Financial Results' is available at 'www.fitchratings.com' under the following headers: Sectors >> Financial Institutions >> Insurance >> Research Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'
Applicable Criteria and Related Research: Property/Casualty Insurers'
2013 Financial Results ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON (News - Alert) THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE. |
