Losses incurred from global catastrophes and business integration costs hit the second-quarter financial results of XL Catlin, the latest major industry player to report lower profits this week.
 
The insurance giant has announced that its operating income from April to June amounted to £80.35 million ($106.4 million), down from £185.5 million ($245.8 million) in the same quarter in 2015.
 
The company said that the decline was driven by catastrophe losses worth £181.28 million ($240.1 million) and expenses related to its integration with the Catlin Group worth £39.3 million ($52.1 million).
 
“XL Catlin's second quarter results were significantly impacted by global catastrophes, reducing operating earnings per share by 84 cents,” XL chief executive Mike McGavick said.
 
“In the face of these events and challenging markets, we demonstrated progress in our underlying performance,” he added.
 
McGavick said the company generated £2.7 billion ($3.6 billion) in gross premiums written and property and casualty underwriting profit of £77 million ($102 million).
 
More businesses were written, with property and casualty gross premiums increasing 17.6% last quarter as a result of the integration with Catlin.
 
The company recorded a combined ratio of 96% in the second quarter, up from 89.9 percent in the same period last year.
 
“The benefits of our integration are emerging and we are committed to the hard work and execution required to succeed,” McGavick said.
 
 
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