Specialty insurance products and reinsurance provider Max Capital Group Ltd. (MXGL), Tuesday recorded a profit for the third quarter from a loss last year, resulting from net realized and unrealized gains on investments. The company also declared a dividend of $0.10 per share.
Hamilton, Bermuda-based Max Capital reported fourth quarter net income of $62.6 million or $1.08 per share, compared to a net loss of $94.1 million or $1.67 per share in the prior year quarter.
Net operating income was $60.5 million or $1.04 per share, compared to a net operating loss of $85.5 million or $1.52 per share in the year-ago period.
On average, six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit of $0.99 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Total revenues for the fourth quarter rose to $268.2 million from $259.4 million in comparable quarter last year.
Gross premiums written was $278.3 million, down from $372.1 million, and net premium written decreased to $175.2 million from $257.8 million in the year-ago period. Net premiums earned edged down to $207.2 million from $301.4 million in the same quarter last year.
Property & casualty combined ratio for the quarter grew 8.1 percentage points to 90.9% from the year earlier period. Book value per share increased by 3.1% to $27.36 during the quarter.
In the current quarter, net investment income increased slightly to $44.6 million from $44.2 million a year-ago and net realized and unrealized gains on investments was $17.3 million compared to a loss of $88.9 million in the prior year quarter.
For the full year, the company reported net income of $246.2 million or $4.26 per share, compared to a net loss of $175.3 million or $3.10 per share last year. Net operating income was $208.9 million or $3.62 per share, compared to a net operating loss of $143.8 million or $2.54 per share last year.
Analysts expected earnings of $3.50 per share for the full year.
Max Capital's total revenue for the full year surged to $1.1 billion from $746.9 million in the prior year.
The company's board also declared a dividend of $0.10 per share, payable on March 9, 2010 to shareholders of record as of February 23, 2010. Additionally, an increase in the share repurchase plan of $100 million was authorized by the board. Currently, the company's available amount is $129 million.
MXGL closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $22.41, down $0.39 or 1.77% on a volume of 0.16 million shares on the Nasdaq. In the after hours the stock fell 2.30% or $0.52, trading at $21.895.
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