Northbridge flexes underwriting muscle for 2004

Northbridge Financial Corp. (TSX: NB), the Canadian operations of Fairfax Financial Holdings, posted record net earnings for 2004 of $162.2 million, equal to $3.19 a share compared with follows earnings of $153.0 million, or $3.07 a share reported the year prior.

For the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2004, Northbridge posted earnings of $48.1 million, or $0.94 a share, versus fourth-quarter 2003 earnings of $43.7 million, or $0.86 a share. The company’s net earned premiums for 2004 grew year-on-year by 23.5% to $1.23 billion (2003: $992.9 million). For the fourth quarter of 2004, net earned premiums rose by 20.2% to $326.6 million from the $271.7 million reported for the same period the previous year.

The operating companies under Northbridge posted an underwriting profit of $150.7 million for 2004 on the back of a combined ratio of 87.7%. This reflects more than a two-fold increase on the underwriting profit of $73.8 million reported for 2003, which was achieved with a combined ratio of 92.6%. In the fourth quarter of 2004, Northbridge’s underwriting profit came in at $68.7 million on a combined ratio of 78.9%, again showing more than a two-fold rise on the underwriting gain of $29.7 million, on a combined ratio of 89.1%, made for 2003’s final quarter.