Aspen Posts $362 Million Q3 Net Loss; $208 Million for 9 Months

Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited didn’t escape the Q3 carnage either. It reported a net loss of $362 million for the period, or $5.22 per diluted share, and a $208.1 million net loss, or $3.00 per diluted share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2005 including $453.7 million of losses from hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Other highlights in the report included the following:
— Third quarter 2005 combined ratio of 207.1 percent and 121.0 percent for the nine months ended September 30, 2005;
— Subsequent to the end of third quarter 2005, we raised approximately $400 million through the sale of our shares;
— Gross written premiums were $494.0 million for the third quarter 2005 and $1.8475 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2005;
— Net investment income was $29.4 million for the third quarter 2005 and $82.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2005.
— Shareholders’ equity decreased from $1.4815 billion at December 31, 2004 to $1.2239 billion at September 30, 2005.

CEO Chris O’Kane commented: “Our third quarter results are clearly disappointing. This has been an exceptional year for natural catastrophes. Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma present major challenges to our industry and we will make the necessary revisions to our approach towards underwriting property reinsurance to take full advantage of the opportunities that will emerge. As we move towards the January renewal season, we expect to see dramatic increase in rates in loss impacted lines and significant improvements in policy wordings. I believe that Aspen is influential and has a leading position in areas such as offshore energy physical damage insurance and property catastrophe reinsurance which will see the most significant improvements. The Company is well positioned to benefit from these changes in market conditions and our diversified business model will continue to serve us well.

“Subsequent to the end of our third quarter 2005, we raised approximately $400 million through the sale of our shares, of which $390 million was contributed to the capital of Aspen Insurance Limited, our Bermudian insurance subsidiary.”

The full report and a replay of the earnings conference call may be obtained on the company’s Website at: http://www.aspen.bm.