W. R. Berkley Stock Earnings Reports

W.R. Berkley reported an excellent Q3 2025: net income of $511 million ($1.28/share) and operating income of $440 million ($1.10/share). Return on beginning-of-year equity was strong (24.3% GAAP, 21% operating). Underwriting results were solid: pretax underwriting income up ~8%, calendar-year combined ratio 90.9% and current accident-year combined ratio ex-cat 88.4%. Net premiums earned/written reached record levels (NPE > $3.2B; GPW $3.8B; NPW $3.2B) with net premium growth across lines. Management flagged rate strength (about +7.6% ex-workers’ comp for the quarter) and emphasized discipline — growing where rate and terms are adequate and shrinking where they are not. Investment income rose (pretax quarterly net investment income $351M; domestic book yield ~4.6%, fixed-maturities book yield 4.8%) and portfolio quality/duration modestly increased (duration ~2.9 years). Capital generation remains robust: book value per share up ~20.7% YTD, stockholders’ equity ~$9.8B, after-tax unrealized losses down to $177M, leverage at ~22.5%, ~$2.4B liquidity, and $362M returned YTD (dividends + repurchases). Management reiterated focus on specialty and smaller accounts (less commoditized exposures), noted Berkley One (personal/homeowners/private client) and A&H growth, and signaled caution on property-cat and certain commercial auto/umbrella pockets. They continue to monitor casualty/social inflation trends, are preparing for tariff impacts, and are open to returning excess capital (dividends/repurchases) while retaining flexibility to deploy capital opportunistically.