James River Group Holdings, the Bermuda-based insurance holdings company, has posted net income of $20.8 million during the second quarter of 2021, down from $35.6 million for the same period last year.
However, on an adjusted basis, net operating income improved by 8% to $18.8 million, and the company’s combined ratio similarly improved from 95.0% to 89.7%.
And looking at premiums, James River saw growth against all metrics, with gross written premiums increasing by 26% to $380.1 million during the quarter.
Specifically, GWP for casualty reinsurance business increased by 41% to $36.9 million, while excess and surplus lines GWP grew 14% to $214.0 million and specialty admitted insurance grew 46% to $129.2 million.
Net investment income for the second quarter of 2021 was $14.3 million, which compares to $15.4 million for the same period in 2020.
The decrease was principally caused by lower investment income from restricted cash and lower investment income from a bank loan portfolio resulting from the sale of a substantial part of that portfolio during the second quarter of 2020.
“The Company has delivered excellent second quarter results, reflecting the resilience of our business model and singular focus of responding to our trading partners during very robust market conditions,” said James River CEO Frank D’Orazio.
“Our growth in Core E&S gross written premiums exceeded expectations while our 18.1% increase in E&S renewal rates marked the eighteenth consecutive quarter of rate growth, compounding to 42.5% over the same period,” D’Orazio continued.
“The fronting business and fee income in our Specialty Admitted Insurance segment also continues to scale meaningfully, as segment premium increased by 46.1% in the quarter. Overall, the Group produced a record underwriting profit in the quarter as commercial auto loss emergence was in line with our indications while our claims closure rate remained strong.”
