Berkley reports 55.1% profit surge in second quarter

W.R. Berkley Corp.'s net income for the second quarter of 2014 surged 55.1% over that of the same period in 2013 to $180.0 million, owing in part to price increases, the sale of some real estate and a successful investment strategy, the insurer reported Monday.

Net written premiums rose in the second quarter to $1.49 billion, an increase of 11.2% from the same period a year earlier. The Greenwich, Connecticut-based insurer's combined ratio for the second quarter was 94.4%.compared with 96.6% in the same period of 2013.

The insurer reported net income of $350.0 million for the first half of 2014, a 28.7% increase over the same period of 2013. Net written premiums rose 11.0% in the first half to $3.02 billion, and the combined ratio improved to 94.2% from 95.6%.

“We were very pleased with our second-quarter results,” said Berkley Chairman and CEO W.R. William R. Berkley in a statement.

“Weather-related losses are typically higher in the second quarter than in other quarters for our company, and this year such losses were about average,” he said. “We were able to grow our top line by about 11%. Price increases for our domestic insurance businesses were approximately 4%; thus, for the 12th quarter in a row, prices increased at a rate in excess of loss costs.

“We have maintained the quality of our fixed-income portfolio, while at the same time investing an increasing portion of new funds into alternative investments with the goal of generating capital gains,” he said. The sale of a property from our real-estate portfolio resulted in a substantial gain this quarter. We also continue to achieve gains from our common stock and private equity investments,” he said in the statement.