GreenLight Capital's (GLRE) Q4 Loss Widens, Premiums Down

Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd.’s (NASDAQ:GLRE) fourth-quarter 2018 operating loss per share of $2.25 was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.9%. The reported figure also deteriorated from the year-ago quarter’s loss of $1.02. This downside was mainly due to Hurricane Michael and the California wildfires.

Quarterly Operational Update

Gross written premiums for the reported quarter dipped 2.8% to $135.1 million from the prior-year quarter’s level due to exposure to multi-line casualty contract.

In the quarter under review, net premiums earned were $119.6 million, down 15.2% year over year.

The company’s net realized investment losses were $56.4 million, wider than the prior-year quarter’s figure by 248%.

Full-Year Update

As of Dec 31, 2018, gross written premiums were $567.5 million, up 18.1% year over year.

Net earned premiums totaled $508.4 million, down 18.8% year over year.

The company incurred a new investment loss of $323.1 million against the prior-year quarter’s net investment income of $20.2 million.

Net loss was $9.74 per share, worse than 2017’s figure by 705% year over year.

Financial Position

As of Dec 31, 2018, the company’s total investments plunged 79.2% year over year to $283 million.

At fourth-quarter end, the company’s total assets were $1.4 billion, down 57.2% from the tally at 2017 end.

Cash and cash equivalents decreased 33.2% year over year as of Dec 31, 2018.

Total equity in 2018 dropped 43.4% year over year.

Full-Year Highlights

For 2018, consolidated gross premiums written summed $957.3 million, up 9.4% year over year. Net premiums earned were $818.9 million, up 10.9% year over year.

For the full year, net realized investment losses were $43.5 million versus the net realized investment gains of $16.4 million, which in turn, reflects market volatility.

Zacks Rank

Greenlight Capital carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Performance of Other Insurers

Among other players from the insurance industry, having already posted fourth-quarter earnings, the bottom-line results of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) , Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL) and Cincinnati Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CINF) surpassed the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate.

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