(Note: All dollar amounts in this news release are expressed in U.S. dollars except as otherwise noted. The financial results are prepared using the recognition and measurement requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards except as otherwise noted, and are unaudited.)
TORONTO, May 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (TSX:FFH) (TSX:FFH.U) announces net earnings of $684.3 million ($23.60 net earnings per diluted share after payment of preferred share dividends) in the first quarter of 2018 compared to net earnings of $82.6 million ($3.03 net earnings per diluted share after payment of preferred share dividends) in the first quarter of 2017, reflecting a non-cash gain of $596.8 million after non-controlling interests related to a change in accounting for Quess Corp. Book value per basic share at March 31, 2018 was $461.18 compared to $449.55 at December 31, 2017 (an increase of 4.9% adjusted for the $10 per common share dividend paid in the first quarter of 2018).
"Our insurance companies continued to have excellent underwriting performance in the first quarter of 2018 with a consolidated combined ratio of 96.0%, with Zenith National at 86.1%, OdysseyRe at 91.2% and Allied World at 94.8%, and our operating income was strong at $238 million," said Prem Watsa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “As a result of Thomas Cook India changing the accounting for its ownership interest in Quess Corp. from a subsidiary to an associate company, under IFRS Quess was de-consolidated and Fairfax's ownership interest in Quess through Thomas Cook was recorded at fair value for a gain of $596.8 million after non-controlling interests. We continue to be soundly financed, with quarter-end cash and marketable securities in the holding company exceeding $2 billion."
The table below shows the sources of the company's net earnings, set out in a format which the company has consistently used as it believes it assists in understanding Fairfax:
Quarter ended March 31, | ||||||
2018 | 2017 | |||||
($ millions) | ||||||
Gross premiums written | 3,932.2 | 2,609.2 | ||||
Net premiums written | 3,240.1 | 2,275.0 | ||||
Underwriting profit | 109.1 | 107.2 | ||||
Interest and dividends - insurance and reinsurance | 128.5 | 101.5 | ||||
Operating income | 237.6 | 208.7 | ||||
Run-off (excluding net gains (losses) on investments) | (32.5 | ) | (39.8 | ) | ||
Non-insurance operations | 77.0 | (1.0 | ) | |||
Corporate overhead, interest expense and other | (125.2 | ) | (49.3 | ) | ||
Net gains (losses) on investments | 934.2 | (18.4 | ) | |||
Pre-tax income | 1,091.1 | 100.2 | ||||
Income taxes and non-controlling interests | (406.8 | ) | (17.6 | ) | ||
Net earnings attributable to shareholders of Fairfax | 684.3 | 82.6 | ||||
Highlights for the first quarter of 2018 (with comparisons to the first quarter of 2017 except as otherwise noted) included the following:
First quarter of 2018 | ||||||||
($ millions) | ||||||||
Realized gains (losses) | Unrealized gains (losses) | Net gains (losses) | ||||||
Net gains (losses) on: | ||||||||
Long equity exposures | 907.1 | 68.0 | 975.1 | |||||
Short equity exposures | (199.0 | ) | 249.1 | 50.1 | ||||
Net equity exposures | 708.1 | 317.1 | 1,025.2 | |||||
Bonds | (0.2 | ) | (124.9 | ) | (125.1 | ) | ||
CPI-linked derivatives | — | (20.2 | ) | (20.2 | ) | |||
Other | 18.9 | 35.4 | 54.3 | |||||
726.8 | 207.4 | 934.2 | ||||||
Included in Other in the table above are net gains of $45.7 million in the first quarter of 2018 on the company's U.S. treasury bond forward contracts that reduce exposure to interest rate risk.
There were 27.7 million and 23.1 million weighted average common shares effectively outstanding during the first quarters of 2018 and 2017 respectively. At March 31, 2018 there were 27,655,870 common shares effectively outstanding.
Unaudited consolidated balance sheet, earnings and comprehensive income information, along with segmented premium and combined ratio information, follow and form part of this news release.
In presenting the company’s results in this news release, management has included operating income (loss), combined ratio and book value per basic share. Operating income (loss) is used in the company's segment reporting. The combined ratio is calculated by the company as the sum of claims losses, loss adjustment expenses, commissions, premium acquisition costs and other underwriting expenses, expressed as a percentage of net premiums earned. Book value per basic share is calculated by the company as common shareholders' equity divided by the number of common shares outstanding.
As previously announced, Fairfax will hold a conference call to discuss its first quarter 2018 results at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, May 4, 2018. The call, consisting of a presentation by the company followed by a question period, may be accessed at 1 (800) 857-9641 (Canada or U.S.) or 1 (517) 308-9408 (International) with the passcode “Fairfax”. A replay of the call will be available from shortly after the termination of the call until 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, May 18, 2018. The replay may be accessed at 1 (800) 860-4696 (Canada or U.S.) or 1 (203) 369-3836 (International).
Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a holding company which, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and investment management.
For further information, contact: | John Varnell, Vice President, Corporate Development | ||||||
(416) 367-4941 | |||||||
Certain statements contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the “safe harbour” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Fairfax to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: a reduction in net earnings if our loss reserves are insufficient; underwriting losses on the risks we insure that are higher or lower than expected; the occurrence of catastrophic events with a frequency or severity exceeding our estimates; changes in market variables, including interest rates, foreign exchange rates, equity prices and credit spreads, which could negatively affect our investment portfolio; the cycles of the insurance market and general economic conditions, which can substantially influence our and our competitors' premium rates and capacity to write new business; insufficient reserves for asbestos, environmental and other latent claims; exposure to credit risk in the event our reinsurers fail to make payments to us under our reinsurance arrangements; exposure to credit risk in the event our insureds, insurance producers or reinsurance intermediaries fail to remit premiums that are owed to us or failure by our insureds to reimburse us for deductibles that are paid by us on their behalf; our inability to maintain our long term debt ratings, the inability of our subsidiaries to maintain financial or claims paying ability ratings and the impact of a downgrade of such ratings on derivative transactions that we or our subsidiaries have entered into; risks associated with implementing our business strategies; the timing of claims payments being sooner or the receipt of reinsurance recoverables being later than anticipated by us; risks associated with our use of derivative instruments; the failure of our hedging methods to achieve their desired risk management objective; a decrease in the level of demand for insurance or reinsurance products, or increased competition in the insurance industry; the impact of emerging claim and coverage issues or the failure of any of the loss limitation methods we employ; our inability to access cash of our subsidiaries; our inability to obtain required levels of capital on favourable terms, if at all; the loss of key employees; our inability to obtain reinsurance coverage in sufficient amounts, at reasonable prices or on terms that adequately protect us; the passage of legislation subjecting our businesses to additional supervision or regulation, including additional tax regulation, in the United States, Canada or other jurisdictions in which we operate; risks associated with government investigations of, and litigation and negative publicity related to, insurance industry practice or any other conduct; risks associated with political and other developments in foreign jurisdictions in which we operate; risks associated with legal or regulatory proceedings or significant litigation; failures or security breaches of our computer and data processing systems; the influence exercisable by our significant shareholder; adverse fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; our dependence on independent brokers over whom we exercise little control; an impairment in the carrying value of our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets; our failure to realize deferred income tax assets; technological or other change which adversely impacts demand, or the premiums payable, for the insurance coverages we offer; and assessments and shared market mechanisms which may adversely affect our U.S. insurance subsidiaries. Additional risks and uncertainties are described in our most recently issued Annual Report which is available at www.fairfax.ca and in our Supplemental and Base Shelf Prospectus (under “Risk Factors”) filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Fairfax disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements unless otherwise required by law.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
as at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017
(unaudited - US$ millions)
March 31, 2018 | December 31, 2017 | |||||||
Assets | ||||||||
Holding company cash and investments (including assets pledged for short sale and derivative obligations – $44.0; December 31, 2017 – $77.8) | 2,612.0 | 2,368.4 | ||||||
Insurance contract receivables | 5,065.2 | 4,686.9 | ||||||
Portfolio investments | ||||||||
Subsidiary cash and short term investments | 12,066.6 | 17,382.5 | ||||||
Bonds (cost $13,604.4; December 31, 2017 – $8,764.6) | 13,859.6 | 9,164.1 | ||||||
Preferred stocks (cost $335.9; December 31, 2017 – $338.5) | 287.3 | 296.8 | ||||||
Common stocks (cost $4,886.4; December 31, 2017 – $4,877.5) | 4,933.4 | 4,838.7 | ||||||
Investments in associates (fair value $3,901.7; December 31, 2017 – $2,824.3) | 3,611.7 | 2,487.0 | ||||||
Derivatives and other invested assets (cost $716.6; December 31, 2017 – $641.0) | 360.4 | 255.4 | ||||||
Assets pledged for short sale and derivative obligations (cost $184.2; December 31, 2017 – $197.5) | 180.2 | 194.7 | ||||||
Fairfax India and Fairfax Africa cash, portfolio investments and associates | 2,428.7 | 2,394.0 | ||||||
37,727.9 | 37,013.2 | |||||||
Deferred premium acquisition costs | 1,045.3 | 927.5 | ||||||
Recoverable from reinsurers (including recoverables on paid losses – $614.5; December 31, 2017 – $453.8) | 7,884.9 | 7,812.5 | ||||||
Deferred income taxes | 316.1 | 380.8 | ||||||
Goodwill and intangible assets | 5,801.6 | 6,072.5 | ||||||
Other assets | 4,560.1 | 4,828.3 | ||||||
Total assets | 65,013.1 | 64,090.1 | ||||||
Liabilities | ||||||||
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities | 3,546.6 | 3,629.5 | ||||||
Income taxes payable | 72.5 | 95.6 | ||||||
Short sale and derivative obligations (including at the holding company – $13.5; December 31, 2017 – $11.5) | 105.2 | 126.2 | ||||||
Funds withheld payable to reinsurers | 773.1 | 850.2 | ||||||
Insurance contract liabilities | 34,748.6 | 34,562.5 | ||||||
Borrowings – holding company and insurance and reinsurance companies | 5,441.7 | 4,848.1 | ||||||
Borrowings – non-insurance companies | 1,576.5 | 1,566.0 | ||||||
Total liabilities | 46,264.2 | 45,678.1 | ||||||
Equity | ||||||||
Common shareholders’ equity | 12,754.4 | 12,475.6 | ||||||
Preferred stock | 1,335.5 | 1,335.5 | ||||||
Shareholders’ equity attributable to shareholders of Fairfax | 14,089.9 | 13,811.1 | ||||||
Non-controlling interests | 4,659.0 | 4,600.9 | ||||||
Total equity | 18,748.9 | 18,412.0 | ||||||
65,013.1 | 64,090.1 | |||||||
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS
for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017
(unaudited - US$ millions except per share amounts)
First quarter | ||||||||||
2018 | 2017 | |||||||||
Income | ||||||||||
Gross premiums written | 3,932.2 | 2,609.2 | ||||||||
Net premiums written | 3,240.1 | 2,275.0 | ||||||||
Gross premiums earned | 3,379.3 | 2,322.5 | ||||||||
Premiums ceded to reinsurers | (637.6 | ) | (337.6 | ) | ||||||
Net premiums earned | 2,741.7 | 1,984.9 | ||||||||
Interest and dividends | 211.4 | 128.1 | ||||||||
Share of profit of associates | 30.3 | 27.1 | ||||||||
Net gains (losses) on investments | 934.2 | (18.4 | ) | |||||||
Other revenue | 1,008.8 | 615.9 | ||||||||
4,926.4 | 2,737.6 | |||||||||
Expenses | ||||||||||
Losses on claims, gross | 2,054.5 | 1,397.7 | ||||||||
Losses on claims ceded to reinsurers | (374.7 | ) | (232.4 | ) | ||||||
Losses on claims, net | 1,679.8 | 1,165.3 | ||||||||
Operating expenses | 612.8 | 427.4 | ||||||||
Commissions, net | 467.8 | 390.8 | ||||||||
Interest expense | 88.8 | 70.6 | ||||||||
Other expenses | 986.1 | 583.3 | ||||||||
3,835.3 | 2,637.4 | |||||||||
Earnings before income taxes | 1,091.1 | 100.2 | ||||||||
Provision for income taxes | 53.1 | 24.9 | ||||||||
Net earnings | 1,038.0 | 75.3 | ||||||||
Attributable to: | ||||||||||
Shareholders of Fairfax | 684.3 | 82.6 | ||||||||
Non-controlling interests | 353.7 | (7.3 | ) | |||||||
1,038.0 | 75.3 | |||||||||
Net earnings per share | $ | 24.27 | $ | 3.11 | ||||||
Net earnings per diluted share | $ | 23.60 | $ | 3.03 | ||||||
Cash dividends paid per share | $ | 10.00 | $ | 10.00 | ||||||
Shares outstanding (000) (weighted average) | 27,730 | 23,079 | ||||||||
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017
(unaudited - US$ millions)
First quarter | ||||||||
2018 | 2017 | |||||||
Net earnings | 1,038.0 | 75.3 | ||||||
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of income taxes | ||||||||
Items that may be subsequently reclassified to net earnings | ||||||||
Net unrealized foreign currency translation gains (losses) on foreign operations | (77.9 | ) | 126.6 | |||||
Gains (losses) on hedge of net investment in Canadian subsidiaries | 49.7 | (8.0 | ) | |||||
Share of other comprehensive income of associates, excluding net gains (losses) on defined benefit plans | 23.6 | 3.3 | ||||||
(4.6 | ) | 121.9 | ||||||
Items that will not be subsequently reclassified to net earnings | ||||||||
Share of net gains (losses) on defined benefit plans of associates | (4.5 | ) | 1.0 | |||||
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of income taxes | (9.1 | ) | 122.9 | |||||
Comprehensive income | 1,028.9 | 198.2 | ||||||
Attributable to: | ||||||||
Shareholders of Fairfax | 704.1 | 144.0 | ||||||
Non-controlling interests | 324.8 | 54.2 | ||||||
1,028.9 | 198.2 | |||||||
SEGMENTED INFORMATION
(unaudited - US$ millions)
Net premiums written, net premiums earned and combined ratios for the insurance and reinsurance operations (excluding Runoff) in the first quarters ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 were as follows:
Net Premiums Written
First quarter | ||||||||
2018 | 2017 | |||||||
Northbridge | 239.1 | 213.9 | ||||||
OdysseyRe | 689.7 | 555.2 | ||||||
Crum & Forster | 484.8 | 451.1 | ||||||
Zenith National | 308.4 | 331.8 | ||||||
Brit | 408.6 | 394.4 | ||||||
Allied World(1) | 735.0 | — | ||||||
Fairfax Asia | 53.6 | 100.1 | ||||||
Insurance and Reinsurance - Other | 321.0 | 226.2 | ||||||
Insurance and reinsurance operations | 3,240.2 | 2,272.7 | ||||||
Net Premiums Earned
First quarter | ||||||||
2018 | 2017 | |||||||
Northbridge | 268.1 | 235.8 | ||||||
OdysseyRe | 618.0 | 498.9 | ||||||
Crum & Forster | 467.5 | 445.3 | ||||||
Zenith National | 196.1 | 188.2 | ||||||
Brit | 348.0 | 341.4 | ||||||
Allied World(1) | 518.4 | — | ||||||
Fairfax Asia | 49.8 | 76.3 | ||||||
Insurance and Reinsurance - Other | 273.7 | 195.2 | ||||||
Insurance and reinsurance operations | 2,739.6 | 1,981.1 | ||||||
Combined Ratios
First quarter | ||||||||
2018 | 2017 | |||||||
Northbridge | 99.2 | % | 98.9 | % | ||||
OdysseyRe | 91.2 | % | 90.4 | % | ||||
Crum & Forster | 99.7 | % | 99.5 | % | ||||
Zenith National | 86.1 | % | 80.2 | % | ||||
Brit | 98.9 | % | 96.8 | % | ||||
Allied World(1) | 94.8 | % | — | |||||
Fairfax Asia | 104.5 | % | 93.6 | % | ||||
Insurance and Reinsurance - Other | 101.7 | % | 99.5 | % | ||||
Insurance and reinsurance operations | 96.0 | % | 94.6 | % |
(1) Allied World is included in the company's financial reporting with effect from July 6, 2017.