Bermuda-based Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd., a Bermuda-based provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, yesterday reported net income for the first quarter of 2003 rose to $51.2 million or $0.86 per diluted share compared to $3.3 million or $0.05 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2002.

Endurance's return on average equity for the quarter was 3.8 percent.

Kenneth J. LeStrange, chairman, president, and CEO commented: “Endurance delivered excellent results in the first quarter of 2003.

“Our focused underwriting platform and technical risk analysis continue to drive our company and its results. I am extremely proud of what our organisation has accomplished over the last three months.

“In addition to completing a successful initial public offering in an extremely difficult market, we have also met or exceeded our expectations in all critical areas - including net income, return on equity, and gross premiums.

“As we built Endurance, we anticipated strong demand across the business lines we've chosen to pursue,” continued LeStrange.

“Endurance remains focused on those lines where we have specific underwriting expertise and assembled teams with extensive experience in each distinct line of business. Our property catastrophe, casualty treaty and property treaty businesses all posted significant growth and we continue to build a strong presence in our other business segments.”

He concluded: “We are pleased with our strong start as a public company. Looking to the rest of the year we are optimistic about our renewals in our key markets.

“We believe that our experienced, world-class management team, clean balance sheet, and strong financial position will allow Endurance to take advantage of the opportunities in the market throughout the remainder of the year.”

Gross premiums written were $362.1 million for the first quarter of 2003, up from $130.9 million in the first quarter of 2002, resulting from the continued build-out of a larger more robust organisation.

Net premiums written increased to $360.1 million from $130.9 million in the first quarter of 2002.

The combined ratio for the first quarter 2003 was 83.4 percent and the loss ratio for the quarter was 54.9 percent.

The acquisition expense ratio and the general and administrative expense ratio were 18.2 percent and 10.3 percent respectively.

Net investment income, excluding realised investment gains and loses, for the first quarter of 2003 increased to $14.4 million, compared to $5.6 million in the first quarter of 2002.

Invested assets, held in cash and cash equivalents and fixed income securities, were approximately $2 billion as of March 31, 2003. Approximately 85 percent of the fixed maturity investment portfolio had a AAA rating.

Shareholders' equity was $1.47 billion at March 31, 2003, compared to $1.22 billion at December 31, 2002. Diluted book value per common share, fully adjusted for our common stock offering, was $22.06, compared to $21.73 per common share at December 31, 2002.

On February 28, 2003, Endurance began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “ENH” following the initial public offering of 9.6 million shares.

The offering raised net proceeds of $201.6 million to provide additional capital to Endurance's subsidiaries and for general corporate purposes. The company used $50.6 million from the offering proceeds to repay a portion of the outstanding debt.