UNIVERSAL NARROWS LOSS BUT MISSES FORECAST

US property/casualty group Universal Insurance Holdings saw its fourth-quarter net loss narrow to $17.7m from $51.1m on a 21.9% increase in direct written premiums (to $368.8m) and a 16.6-point improvement in the loss ratio. The adjusted operating loss per share narrowed to 84¢ from $1.57 but missed analysts’ forecast of a 6¢ loss. The combined ratio improved by 18.9 points to 124%, but the company remained in the red owing to $99.4m in catastrophe losses. Cat losses included $76m in excess of budget from named storms and PCS events and $23.4m in loss creep from prior-period events. For the full year, the Florida-based group’s net income fell 59% to $19.1m after posting $162m in current-year cat losses and $58.3m in loss creep. The combined ratio added 9.7 points to 113.6%, while direct written premiums grew 17.3% to $1.52bn. Universal swung to a 90¢ operating loss per share for the year from income of $1.18.