Canada’s P&C industry sees 2008 nine-month net income, underwriting income decline

Canada’s property and casualty industry (excluding most AMF-regulated companies) has seen its 2008 nine-month underwriting net income fall 32.7% over the same period last year.
MSA Research Inc. issued nine-month results for the industry, including results from both federally regulated and provincially licensed insurers. (The results do not include many AMF-regulated insurers because they are not required to post Q1 or Q3 results.)
MSA’s numbers show the industry reporting an overall net income of Cdn$2.3 billion in the first nine months of 2008, compared to Cdn$3.6 billion over the same period last year.
Part of the decline is due to the fact that 2008 nine-month underwriting income results plunged 82.9% over the same period last year.
According to MSA, the industry reported an underwriting income of only Cdn$271.1 million during the first nine months of 2008, as opposed to Cdn$1.59 billion during the first nine months of 2007.
Looking exclusively at personal and multi-lines insurers, they posted a 2007 nine-month underwriting income of Cdn$502 million — and a Cdn$300-million underwriting loss during the same nine-month period in 2008.
The markets did wreak some havoc on insurers’ net investment incomes this year. MSA figures show Canadian insurers’ net investment income dropped 14.6% during the first nine months of 2008 compared to the same period a year ago.
Total liabilities increased 5.1%, from Cdn$82.9 billion in the first nine months of 2007 to Cdn$87.1 billion during the first nine months of 2008.