Berkley ups net income, revenue on higher insurance rates

W.R. Berkley Corp. saw gains in net income and revenue during the third quarter of 2013, as the insurer said it pushed for price increases.

Greenwich, Conn.-based Berkley reported net income of $137 million in its most recent quarter, up 35.7% from $101 million in the third quarter of 2012. The insurer reported third-quarter revenue of $1.6 billion, up 13% from $1.4 billion during the same period last year.

Its net premiums written increased 11.6% to $1.42 billion for the quarter.

For the first nine months of this year, Berkley reported net income of $369.5 million, up 7% from $345.1 million during the same period in 2012. The company reported nine-month revenue of $4.7 billion, up 11.8% from $4.2 billion in the same period last year.

Berkley’s net premiums written during the first three quarters of 2013 reached $4.1 billion. That’s up 12.9% from $3.7 billion in net premiums written during the same period in 2012.

In a statement Monday, Chairman and CEO William R. Berkley said the insurer “continued to see our loss ratio improve and our return on equity increase. Cumulative pricing in our domestic insurance segment is up approximately 18% over the past three years.”

Mr. Berkley added that the insurer is “focusing on improving underwriting margins by continuing to increase our rates and reducing our expense ratio.”