Greenlight Re Announces Second Quarter 2010 Financial Results

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, Aug. 2, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. (Nasdaq:GLRE) today announced financial results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2010. Greenlight Re reported a net profit of $17.7 million for the second quarter of 2010 compared to net income of $92.2 million for the same period in 2009. The fully diluted earnings per share were $0.47 for the second quarter of 2010, compared to fully diluted earnings per share of $2.51 for the same period in 2009.

Fully diluted adjusted book value per share was $19.07 as of June 30, 2010, a 15.4% increase from $16.53 per share as of June 30, 2009. 

For the six months ended June 30, 2010, net income was $5.3 million compared to $120.0 million for the same period in 2009. On a fully diluted basis, net income per share was $0.14 for the six months ended June 30, 2010 compared to $3.29 for the same period in 2009.

"We are pleased with the discipline and focus our underwriting team has shown in a challenging pricing environment in the second quarter," said David Einhorn, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Greenlight Re. "Our conservative investment portfolio generated a small profit during a quarter when the major equity indices were down significantly."

Other financial and operating highlights for Greenlight Re for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2010 include:

• Gross written premiums in the second quarter of 2010 were $89.0 million compared to $70.0 million in the second quarter of 2009, while net earned premiums were $49.4 million during the second quarter of 2010 compared to $49.3 million reported in the second quarter of 2009. 
• The combined ratio for the six months ended June 30, 2010 was 99.6% compared to 96.7% for the six months ended June 30, 2009.
• Net investment income in the second quarter was $22.6 million, a return of 2.6% on our investment portfolio. This compares to $88.3 million in the second quarter of 2009, when we reported a 13.9% return on our investment portfolio. For the first six months of 2010, net investment income was $5.8 million compared to $116.0 million during the comparable period in 2009.

"At this point in the market cycle, we are focused not only on where to grow the book, but also on where to reduce or discontinue our underwriting," said Len Goldberg, Chief Executive Officer of Greenlight Re. "We increased our loss estimates on a small number of discontinued contracts in the quarter, while our growth comes from the business lines where we are focused, and which continue to perform well. This bodes well for our strategy and the quality of our underwriting portfolio."