Bermuda-based reinsurer PartnerRe has reported a net loss of $204 million for the first-half of the year, as the firm booked $338 million of pre-tax losses, net of retrocession and reinstatement premiums, as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The firm’s H1 2020 net loss includes net realised and unrealised investment gains on fixed maturities and short-term investments of $211 million, mostly as a result of decreases in worldwide risk-free rates, and net foreign exchange gains of $95 million.
In H1 2019, PartnerRe reported net income of $782 million, which included net realized and unrealized investment gains on fixed maturities and short-term investments of $443 million and $47 million of net foreign exchange losses.
The $338 million of COVID-19 losses are classified as incurred but not reported reserves, and includes $159 million of pre-tax losses in P&C, $164 million in Specialty, and $15 million in Life and Health. PartnerRe says that the majority of the losses are attributable to business interruption and event cancellation related coverages, credit exposures in financial lines, and life and health business.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and the related economic downturn is ongoing. There continues to be significant uncertainty surrounding the full extent of the impact. Despite the recent market conditions, the Company’s solvency position has remained strong and showed an improvement during the second quarter of 2020. The Company also maintains ample liquidity, with cash and cash equivalents of $1.4 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2020,” says PartnerRe.
In H1 2020, PartnerRe has reported a non-life underwriting loss of $306 million and a combined ratio of 112.6%. The Specialty unit fell to an underwriting loss of $251 million in the period, the P&C segment fell to an underwriting loss of $55 million, and the life and health segment reported an underwriting profit of $5 million in H1 2020.
