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White Mountains Reports Adjusted Book Value Per Share of $417
Hamilton, Bermuda – 03 February, 2010 - White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE: WTM) reported an adjusted book value per share of $417 at December 31, 2009, an increase of 3% for the quarter and 18% for the year, including dividends.
Ray Barrette, Chairman and CEO, commented, "We had a good year. We grew adjusted book value per share by 18% in 2009, driven by strong investment and underwriting results. Our investment portfolio was up 10% in U.S. dollars and 8% in local currencies. These results were achieved despite a "de-risked" portfolio with few common stocks. Our fixed income team reinvested the bulk of the proceeds from equity sales into corporate bonds to produce a total return of 18% on that portfolio. OneBeacon had 31% growth in book value per share, driven by strong investment returns and a 94% combined ratio. OneBeacon took big steps as a specialty company by selling the Personal Lines and non-specialty Commercial Lines businesses. WMRe achieved an 80% combined ratio. Low catastrophes clearly helped, but we have made great strides in improving the operations and the balance sheet. Esurance had a good year with a GAAP combined ratio of 104%, down 2 points from the prior year. This is a bit less of an improvement than we could have achieved, as we decided to increase our advertising spend to take advantage of renewed growth opportunities. All in all, I am quite pleased with our results for the year. We have strong underwriting operations and we have a solid investment portfolio with much liquidity. We have restored our financial flexibility and intend to restart our existing share repurchase program."