RenaissanceRe Reports Net Income of $179.7 Million for the Third Quarter of 2013 or $4.01 Per Diluted Common Share; Quarterly Operating Income of $151.3 Million or $3.36 Per Diluted Common Share

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) today reported net income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders of $179.7 million or $4.01 per diluted common share in the third quarter of 2013, compared to $180.7 million or $3.62 per diluted common share in the third quarter of 2012. Operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders was $151.3 million, or $3.36 per diluted common share for the third quarter of 2013, compared to $104.4 million or $2.07, respectively, in the third quarter of 2012. The Company reported an annualized return on average common equity of 22.2% and an annualized operating return on average common equity of 18.7% in the third quarter of 2013, compared to 22.0% and 12.7%, respectively, in the third quarter of 2012. Book value per common share increased $3.20, or 4.5%, in the third quarter of 2013 to $74.58, compared to a 4.8% increase in the third quarter of 2012. Tangible book value per common share plus accumulated dividends increased $3.49, or 4.9%, in the third quarter of 2013, compared to a 5.3% increase in the third quarter of 2012.

Kevin J. O'Donnell, CEO, commented: "For the third quarter of 2013, we reported an increase in our tangible book value per share, plus accumulated dividends of 4.9% and an annualized operating return on equity of 18.7%. Our results reflect a combination of strong underwriting performance, driven in part by light catastrophe loss activity, and solid investment results."

Mr. O'Donnell continued: "Our results were helped in no small part by our decision earlier in the year to adjust our portfolio, in an increasingly competitive environment. As we approach the next major renewal season, our flexible capital structure, multiple underwriting platforms and proven access to the capital markets position us well to serve the needs of our clients. Going forward, our ability to be responsive long term partners to our clients and investors while remaining disciplined underwriters will be a differentiator in our business."

DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

On August 30, 2013, the Company entered into a purchase agreement with a subsidiary of Munich-American Holding Corporation ("Munich") to sell its U.S.-based weather and weather-related energy risk management unit ("REAL") and, on October 1, 2013, the Company closed the sale of REAL. The Company has classified the assets and liabilities associated with this transaction as held for sale and the financial results are reflected in the Company's consolidated financial statements as “discontinued operations.” Except as explicitly described as held for sale or as discontinued operations, and unless otherwise noted, all discussions and amounts presented herein relate to the Company's continuing operations. All prior periods presented have been reclassified to conform to this form of presentation.

THIRD QUARTER 2013 HIGHLIGHTS ⁽¹⁾

• Underwriting income of $151.4 million and a combined ratio of 48.6%, compared to $122.6 million and 53.3%, respectively. The increase in underwriting income was primarily driven by a $32.1 million increase in net premiums earned due to growth in gross premiums written principally in the Company's specialty unit and Lloyd's segment, combined with a $12.3 million decrease in net claims and claim expenses, driven by a relatively light loss quarter, partially offset by a $13.3 million increase in acquisition expenses primarily due to the Company's specialty unit.
• Total investment gains of $88.2 million, which includes the sum of net investment income, net realized and unrealized gains (losses) on investments and net other-than-temporary impairments, compared to gains of $122.8 million. Although positive returns were generated in the Company's fixed maturity investment portfolio during the third quarter of 2013, the decrease when compared to the third quarter of 2012 was primarily driven by significant credit spread tightening during the third quarter of 2012. Offsetting this decrease was a $13.8 million increase in net investment income from other investments principally driven by improved returns in the Company's private equity investments and an $18.1 million increase in the fair value of the Company's investment in Essent Group Ltd. (“Essent”), which is included in other investments.

Underwriting Results by Segment ⁽¹⁾

Reinsurance Segment

Gross premiums written in the Reinsurance segment were $142.7 million, an increase of $35.1 million, or 32.6%, comprised of:

• a $22.2 million, or 58.6% increase in the Company's specialty unit to $60.2 million, compared to $37.9 million, primarily due to higher quota share premiums in RenaissanceRe Specialty Risks Ltd. ("RenaissanceRe Specialty"); and
• a $12.8 million, or 18.4% increase in the Company's catastrophe unit.

Managed catastrophe premiums, net of reinstatement premiums written, totaled $87.9 million, an increase of $18.0 million, or 25.7% for the third quarter of 2013.

For the the first nine months of 2013, managed catastrophe premiums, net of reinstatement premiums written, totaled $1,225.9 million, a decrease of $62.4 million, or 4.8%, principally due to reduced risk-adjusted pricing in the Florida market as a whole and the non-renewal of a number of contracts during the January and June renewals. Gross premiums written in the specialty unit for the first nine months of 2013 were $201.0 million, an increase of $25.3 million, or 14.4%, principally due to a number of new contracts and higher renewal rates in certain lines of business within the specialty unit. The Company's premiums are prone to significant volatility due to the timing of contract inception and also due to the business being characterized by a relatively small number of relatively large transactions.

The Reinsurance segment generated underwriting income of $152.4 million and a combined ratio of 38.4%, compared to $134.2 million and 41.8%, respectively. The $18.3 million increase in underwriting income was driven by a $17.1 million increase in net premiums earned and a relatively light catastrophe loss quarter resulting in a $21.2 million decrease in current accident year net claims and claim expenses, partially offset by a $10.5 million increase in acquisition expenses and an $8.6 million decrease in favorable development on prior accident years net claims and claim expenses. The increase in acquisition expenses is primarily attributable to the specialty unit, which experienced growth in lines of business written through RenaissanceRe Specialty that carry a relatively higher acquisition expense ratio.

The Reinsurance segment experienced $8.9 million of favorable development on prior years reserves, compared to $17.4 million, including $6.1 million and $2.7 million of favorable development in the catastrophe and specialty units, respectively. Favorable development on prior years reserves within the catastrophe unit was primarily due to $4.7 million of favorable development related to a reduction in the expected ultimate net loss for the 2008 Hurricanes, Gustav and Ike, as reported claims came in better than expected. The $2.7 million of prior accident years favorable development in the specialty unit was principally due to reported claims coming in better than expected.

Lloyd's Segment

Gross premiums written in the Lloyd's segment were $40.0 million, an increase of $11.2 million, or 39.1%, primarily due to continued organic growth within the segment. The Lloyd's segment incurred an underwriting loss of $2.5 million and a combined ratio of 105.3%, compared to an underwriting loss of $11.5 million and a combined ratio of 135.6%, respectively. The decrease in the underwriting loss in the Lloyd's segment reflects the increase in net earned premiums due to the growth in gross premiums written noted above.

Other Items ⁽¹⁾

• The operating results of REAL, have been classified as discontinued operations in the statements of operations and resulted in a loss of $9.8 million, compared to a loss of $0.2 million. The $9.8 million loss from discontinued operations includes an $8.8 million loss on the sale of REAL and a $1.0 net loss from the operations of REAL in the third quarter of 2013.
• Included in net investment income in the third quarter of 2013 is $18.1 million resulting from an increase in the fair value of the Company’s investment in Essent, reflecting the Company's estimate of the fair value of its investment in the common shares of Essent of $48.0 million at September 30, 2013. On October 31, 2013, Essent began publicly trading on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and the Company currently holds 5,032,575 common shares of Essent. As of the close of business on November 4, 2013, Essent's common shares were priced at $22.01 per share on the NYSE. The Company has agreed, subject to certain exceptions, not to dispose of or hedge any of the shares of Essent it holds prior to April 28, 2014.
• During the third quarter of 2013, the Company repurchased 224 thousand common shares in open market transactions at an aggregate cost of $18.9 million and at an average share price of $84.41.
• Subsequent to September 30, 2013 and through the period ended November 4, 2013, the Company has not repurchased any additional common shares.
• Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests of $44.3 million decreased from $51.1 million, primarily impacted by a decrease in profitability of DaVinciRe, primarily driven by lower investment income. The Company's ownership percentage in DaVinciRe was 32.9% at September 30, 2013, compared to 31.5% at September 30, 2012.

This Press Release includes certain non-GAAP financial measures including “operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders,” “operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders per common share - diluted,” “operating return on average common equity - annualized,” “managed catastrophe premiums,” "tangible book value per common share" and "tangible book value per common share plus accumulated dividends." A reconciliation of such measures to the most comparable GAAP figures in accordance with Regulation G is presented in the attached supplemental financial data.

Please refer to the “Investor Information - Financial Reports - Financial Supplements” section of the Company's website at www.renre.com for a copy of the Financial Supplement which includes additional information on the Company's financial performance.

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. will host a conference call on Wednesday, November 6, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. (ET) to discuss this release. Live broadcast of the conference call will be available through the “Investor Information - Company Webcasts” section of RenaissanceRe's website at www.renre.com.

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. is a global provider of reinsurance and insurance. The Company's business consists of two reportable segments: (i) Reinsurance, which includes catastrophe reinsurance, specialty reinsurance and certain property catastrophe and specialty joint ventures managed by the Company's ventures unit, and (ii) Lloyd's, which includes reinsurance and insurance business written through Syndicate 1458.

Cautionary Statement under “Safe Harbor” Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements made in this earnings release contain information about the Company's future business prospects. These statements may be considered “forward-looking.” These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. For further information regarding cautionary statements and factors affecting future results, please refer to RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd.'s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Reports on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

(1) All comparisons are with the third quarter of 2012 unless specifically stated.

Comments on Regulation G

In addition to the GAAP financial measures set forth in this Press Release, the Company has included certain non-GAAP financial measures in this Press Release within the meaning of Regulation G. The Company has provided these financial measurements in previous investor communications and the Company's management believes that these measurements are important to investors and other interested persons, and that investors and such other persons benefit from having a consistent basis for comparison between quarters and for the comparison with other companies within the industry. These measures may not, however, be comparable to similarly titled measures used by companies outside of the insurance industry. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these non-GAAP measures in assessing the Company's overall financial performance.

The Company uses “operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders” as a measure to evaluate the underlying fundamentals of its operations and believes it to be a useful measure of its corporate performance. “Operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders” as used herein differs from “net income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders,” which the Company believes is the most directly comparable GAAP measure, by the exclusion of net realized and unrealized gains and losses on investments from continuing and discontinued operations, net other-than-temporary impairments from continuing operations, and commencing in 2013, also excludes net realized and unrealized gains and losses on investments-related derivatives. Prior to 2013, investments-related derivative net realized and unrealized gains and losses were included in net investment income and were also included in the calculation of operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders and related measures. The Company's management believes that “operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders” is useful to investors because it more accurately measures and predicts the Company's results of operations by removing the variability arising from fluctuations in the Company's fixed maturity investment portfolio and equity investments trading. The Company also uses “operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders” to calculate “operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders per common share - diluted” and “operating return on average common equity - annualized”. The following is a reconciliation of: 1) net income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders to operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders; 2) net income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders per common share - diluted to operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders per common share - diluted; and 3) return on average common equity - annualized to operating return on average common equity - annualized:

The Company has also included in this Press Release “managed catastrophe premiums”. “Managed catastrophe premiums” is defined as gross catastrophe premiums written by Renaissance Reinsurance and its related joint ventures. “Managed catastrophe premiums” differs from total catastrophe unit gross premiums written, which the Company believes is the most directly comparable GAAP measure, due to the inclusion of catastrophe premiums written on behalf of the Company's joint venture Top Layer Re, which is accounted for under the equity method of accounting and the inclusion of catastrophe premiums written on behalf of the Company's Lloyd's segment. The Company's management believes “managed catastrophe premiums” is useful to investors and other interested parties because it provides a measure of total catastrophe premiums, as applicable, assumed by the Company through its consolidated subsidiaries and related joint ventures.

The Company has also included in this Press Release “tangible book value per common share” and “tangible book value per common share plus accumulated dividends”. “Tangible book value per common share” is defined as book value per common share excluding goodwill and intangible assets per share. "Tangible book value per common share plus accumulated dividends” is defined as book value per common share excluding goodwill and intangible assets per share, plus accumulated dividends. “Tangible book value per common share” differs from book value per common share, which the Company believes is the most directly comparable GAAP measure, due to the exclusion of goodwill and intangible assets per share. The Company's management believes “tangible book value per common share” and “tangible book value per common share plus accumulated dividends” are useful to investors because they provide a more accurate measure of the realizable value of shareholder returns, excluding the impact of goodwill and intangible assets. The following is a reconciliation of book value per common share to tangible book value per common share and tangible book value per common share plus accumulated dividends: