ACE CEO Evan Greenberg said progress on the planned $28 billion merger between his company and Chubb continues apace, with shareholders from both sides set to cast their vote on Oct. 22.
“We are on track to close our acquisition of Chubb in the first quarter of 2016 and expect a very positive response from both companies’ shareholders at Thursday’s shareholder meetings,” Greenberg said in prepared remarks issued with ACE’s 2015 third-quarter results.
“We are making good progress with integration planning and will be ready to hit the ground running when we close,” Greenberg added.
ACE booked $528 million in net income for the 2015 third quarter, or $1.62 per share, down from $785 million, or $2.32 per share, over the same period in 2014. The hit, comes, in part, from unfavorable foreign currency rates and realized/unrealized losses in ACE’s investment and variable annuity reinsurance portfolios that reached $622 million after tax (thanks to global equity and interest rate changes).
Gross written premiums surpassed $6.3 billion during the quarter, versus $6.26 billion in the 2014 third quarter. Net premiums written and earned landed at $4.7 billion, respectively, virtually unchanged from the same, year-ago period.
ACE’s property/casualty combined ratio came in at 85.9 for Q3, slightly better than the 86.3 produced during the 2014 third quarter.
Greenberg said that ACE benefit from strong current year underwriting results, positive reserve development and relatively low catastrophe losses. While global P/C net premiums (excluding agriculture) were flat in the quarter, gains in constant currency were higher, particularly in the U.S. and Latin America.
Source: ACE Ltd.