W. R. Berkley reports Q4 EPS $1.13, consensus $1.12

Reports Q4 revenue $3.72B, consensus $3.18B. The company states: “The fourth quarter marked another period of strong results, with a 21.4% return on beginning-of-year stockholders’ equity that culminated in a 21.2% return for the full year. The Company’s performance reflected record underwriting income and net income for the fifth consecutive year, and record investment income for the fourth. Book value per share rose 5.2% in the quarter and 26.7% for the year, before returning $608 million and $971 million to stockholders, respectively, through dividends and share repurchases. Full-year net premiums written increased to a record $12.7 billion. Our focus on profitable growth by maintaining rate adequacy and underwriting discipline resulted in strong combined ratios of 89.4% for the quarter and 90.7% for the year. We expect that the margins available to us will continue to be excellent, with select areas of opportunity persisting in 2026. Fixed-maturity investment income grew 13.3% in the quarter. Investment income is positioned for continued growth with new-money rates above book yield and robust operating cash flows. In the current environment, effective capital management is an important part of our responsibility. In 2025, we repurchased over four million shares, including 2.9 million in the fourth quarter, and paid the largest special dividends in our history. Our priority remains long-term value creation, and we will continue to return excess capital to shareholders in a disciplined and thoughtful manner as strong earnings rapidly generate additional excess capital. Our focus on long-term risk-adjusted return continues to drive superior performance across market cycles. We remain confident in our ability to exceed our 15% after-tax return on beginning equity.”