Aspen Reports $54.5 Million Q4 Net; $152.1 Million Full Year

Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited reported net income of $54.5 million, or $0.88 per diluted share, for the three months ended December 31, 2003 and net income of $152.1 million, or $2.56 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2003.

Gross written premiums were $145 million for the fourth quarter 2003 and $1.3 billion for the full year 2003. The company’s combined ratio was 79 percent for the fourth quarter 2003 and 78 percent for the full year 2003. Net investment income was $12.9 million for the fourth quarter 2003 and $29.6 million for the full year 2003.

CEO Chris O’Kane commented: “All of our businesses produced excellent results in 2003, resulting in an operating return on equity of 16 percent for the year and 23 percent for the quarter. Our strong performance demonstrates that we are succeeding in establishing Aspen as a highly focused leader in key reinsurance and insurance lines. Our financial strength, diverse operating platform and our sophisticated risk selection criteria position us to achieve continued growth in 2004.”

The bulletin noted that Aspen “reports separately on its reinsurance and insurance operations. Gross written premiums for the reinsurance segment were $62.3 million for the fourth quarter 2003 and $1.0 billion for the full year 2003. The reinsurance operations reported a combined ratio of 80 percent for the fourth quarter 2003 and 79 percent for the full year 2003. Gross written premiums for the insurance segment were $82.7 million for the fourth quarter 2003 and $304.9 million for the full year 2003. The insurance operations reported a combined ratio of 77 percent for the fourth quarter 2003 and 77 percent for the full year 2003.

“Shareholders’ equity increased from $878.1 million at December 31, 2002 to $1.3 billion at December 31, 2003, including $246.4 million attributable to the issue of new shares and $7.5 million attributable to share-based compensation.”