Bermuda, Nov. 5, 2009 (PRNewswire-FirstCall) -- Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, Ltd (NYSE: AWH) today reported net income of $200.6 million, or $3.83 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2009 compared to a net loss of $46.4 million, or $0.95 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2008. Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 was $445.6 million, or $8.62 per diluted share, compared to net income of $163.8 million, or $3.22 diluted share, for the first nine months of 2008.
The company reported operating income of $155.4 million, or $2.97 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2009 compared to operating income of $102.8 million, or $2.03 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2008. Operating income for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 was $405.8 million, or $7.85 per diluted share, compared to operating income of $313.9 million, or $6.17 per diluted share, for the first nine months of 2008.
President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Carmilani commented, "We are very excited to report record operating results in the third quarter 2009 as we continue to effectively manage through the sluggish market environment. The company's net operating income was $155 million, which is the best quarterly result in our company's history. This equates to a very impressive 22.2% annualized operating return on shareholders' equity for the quarter. Given these continued excellent results, we are also announcing that our Board has increased the quarterly dividend by 11%, to $0.20 per share, beginning with our fourth quarter dividend."
Mr. Carmilani continued, "As we expand our footprint in the specialty insurance market, our sustained excellent results reflect favorably on the strategic decisions we have made in recent years in both our underwriting operations and with our investment portfolio. The results of these decisions have ultimately been reflected through growth in our shareholders' equity, which is now almost $3.1 billion, up over 27% from the beginning of the year."
Underwriting Results
Gross premiums written were $401.8 million in the third quarter of 2009, a 38.1% increase compared to $291.0 million in the third quarter of 2008. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, gross premiums written totaled $1,374.2 million, a 21.1% increase compared to $1,134.6 million in the first nine months of 2008. Net premiums written were $321.0 million in the third quarter of 2009, a 37.2% increase compared to $233.9 million in the third quarter of 2008. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, net premiums written totaled $1,087.4 million, a 23.5% increase compared to $880.7 million in the first nine months of 2008. These increases were primarily due to the inclusion of the Darwin Professional Underwriters, Inc. ("Darwin") business and increased direct insurance and assumed reinsurance writings by our other U.S. offices.
Net premiums earned in the third quarter of 2009 were $328.8 million, a 20.9% increase compared to $272.0 million in the third quarter of 2008. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, net premiums earned totaled $986.4 million, a 21.2% increase from net premiums earned of $813.9 million in the first nine months of 2008. These increases were primarily due to the expansion of our U.S. based insurance operations.
The combined ratio was 70.4% in the third quarter of 2009 compared to 90.2% in the third quarter of 2008. The loss and loss expense ratio was 41.5% in the third quarter of 2009 compared to 64.7% in the third quarter of 2008. During the third quarter of 2009, the company recorded net favorable reserve development on prior loss years of $73.5 million, a benefit of 22.4 percentage points to the company's loss and loss expense ratio for the quarter. This compares to the third quarter of 2008, where the company recorded net favorable reserve development on prior loss years of $96.9 million, a benefit of 35.6 percentage points to the company's loss and loss expense ratio for that quarter. Absent prior year reserve adjustments, the loss and loss expense ratio related to the third quarter of 2009 was 63.9% compared to 100.3% for the third quarter of 2008. During the three months ended September 30, 2008, the company experienced higher loss activity, which included losses incurred from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, the combined ratio was 76.3% compared to 87.1% in the first nine months of 2008. For the first nine months of 2009, the company recorded net favorable reserve development on prior loss years of $170.3 million, a benefit of 17.3 percentage points to the company's loss and loss expense ratio. For the first nine months of 2008, the company recorded net favorable reserve development on prior loss years of $189.8 million, a benefit of 23.3 percentage points to the company's loss and loss expense ratio.
The company's expense ratio was 28.9% for the third quarter of 2009 compared to 25.5% for the third quarter of 2008. The expense ratio was 29.4% for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 compared to 26.0% in the first nine months of 2008. As part of our ongoing strategic initiatives, the company has significantly expanded its existing U.S. operations. Our overall staff count increased to 628 as of September 30, 2009 from 351 as of September 30, 2008, primarily driven by the additional staff of Darwin. As a result of the increased staff count, salary and employee welfare costs increased by $15.6 million and $44.0 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2009, respectively, compared to the same periods in 2008.
Investment Results
Net investment income in the third quarter of 2009 was $73.0 million, a decrease of 5.0% from the $76.9 million of net investment income in the third quarter of 2008. The decrease was primarily due to lower fixed income amortization on securities for which we had previously recognized other-than- temporary impairment ("OTTI") adjustments. The cumulative adjustment made in the second quarter 2009 effectively eliminated OTTI previously taken by increasing the book value of our fixed maturity investments. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, net investment income was $227.4 million, an increase of 0.5% over the $226.2 million of net investment income in the first nine months of 2008.
The company recorded net realized investment gains of $46.9 million and $88.6 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2009, respectively. As of September 30, 2009 and December 31, 2008, net accumulated unrealized gains were $185.0 million and $105.6 million, respectively. The change in net unrealized investment gains from December 31, 2008 to September 30, 2009 was due to unrealized gains in our fixed-maturity portfolio of $216.3 million primarily resulting from the narrowing of credit spreads across all fixed income classes partially offset by the cumulative effect adjustment of $136.8 million related to the company adopting accounting changes for investments in the second quarter of 2009.
Shareholders' Equity
As of September 30, 2009, our shareholders' equity was $3.1 billion, a 12.3% increase in the current quarter and a 27.4% increase compared to shareholders' equity of $2.4 billion as of December 31, 2008. The increase was primarily the result of net income earned and net unrealized gains on investments recognized during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2009.
The company's annualized net income return on average shareholders' equity for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2009 was 28.7% and 22.8%, respectively. The company's annualized operating return on average shareholders' equity for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2009 was 22.2% and 20.8%, respectively.
As of September 30, 2009, diluted book value per share was $57.20, an increase of 24.2% compared to $46.05 as of December 31, 2008.
Increased Quarterly Dividend
Allied World announced today that its Board of Directors has declared an increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.20 per common share, an 11% increase. The dividend will be payable on December 10, 2009 to shareholders of record on November 24, 2009.
Investment Supplement
Allied World will be providing additional information on its investment portfolio as of September 30, 2009. This information will be available at the "Investor Relations" section of the company's website at www.awac.com.
Financial Supplement
A financial supplement relating to the third quarter of 2009 will be available at the "Investor Relations" section of the company's website at www.awac.com.
Conference Call
Allied World will host a conference call on Friday, November 6, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) to discuss the third quarter 2009 financial results. The public may access a live webcast of the conference call at the "Investor Relations" section of the company's website at www.awac.com. In addition, the conference call can be accessed by dialing (800) 510-9836 (U.S. and Canada callers) or (617) 614-3670 (international callers) and entering the passcode 92163598 approximately ten minutes prior to the call.
Following the conclusion of the presentation, a replay of the call will be available through Friday, November 20, 2009 by dialing (888) 286-8010 (U.S. and Canada callers) or (617) 801-6888 (international callers) and entering the passcode 71145005. In addition, the webcast will remain available online through Friday, November 20, 2009 at www.awac.com.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In presenting the company's results, management has included and discussed in this press release certain non generally accepted accounting principles ("non-GAAP") financial measures within the meaning of Regulation G as promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
