ACE's net income falls 49% in 2011

ZURICH—ACE Ltd.'s 2011 net income fell 49% from that of 2010 to $1.59 billion, the Zurich-based insurance group announced Tuesday.

Gross written premiums for the year grew 6.8% to $20.83 billion. ACE's combined ratio for 2011 stood at 94.6%, a slight deterioration from 2010's 90.2%.

Net income for the fourth quarter of 2011 stood at $750 million, a 25.1% decline from that of the same period a year earlier. Gross written premiums for the quarter grew 6.5% to $4.87 billion, while the combined ratio for the period reached 92.9%, again a slight deterioration from the 90.3% of fourth quarter 2010.

“ACE had a very good fourth quarter and year, given the record natural catastrophe losses the industry incurred globally,” said Evan G. Greenberg, ACE chairman and CEO, in a statement discussing the results. “The financial results once again demonstrated our conservative approach to risk management and underwriting as well as the benefits of a well-diversified global spread of business.”

In the statement, ACE noted that its pretax catastrophe losses for 2011 including reinstatement premiums reached $899 million, compared with $401 million in 2010.