FAIRFAX RETURNS TO Q3 PROFIT AS UNDERWRITING PERFORMANCE IMPROVES

Canadian re/insurer Fairfax reported net earnings of $461.2m for the third quarter of 2014, swinging from a $517m loss in the same period last year. The company also reported a 39% increase in operating profits to $223.1m for the third quarter of 2014 compared with $160.1m in the same period of 2013. The increases were driven primarily by improved underwriting performance, according to Prem Watsa, chairman and chief executive of Fairfax. "Our companies had excellent underwriting performance in the third quarter and the first nine months of 2014, with consolidated combined ratios of 91.2% and 92.3% respectively. All of our major insurance companies again had combined ratios less than 100% in the quarter with OdysseyRe at 88.3% and Zenith at 83.8%,” Watsa said. “We have also realised gains from our equity and equity-related investments of $720m over the first nine months of 2014," he continued. Net premiums for the quarter were largely unchanged year-on-year after adjusting for the timing of crop insurance premiums written by OdysseyRe.