Bermuda-based reinsurer PartnerRe Ltd. has reported earnings of $190.3 million for 2002.

This compares with losses of more than $200 million at the end of 2001.

Chief executive officer and president Patrick Thiele said that after an "excellent" fourth quarter to finish 2002, the company was in a position of strength.

"At this point we expect strong market conditions to continue into 2004."

The company, which is listed on the New York stock exchange, released their fourth quarter earnings yesterday after the market closed.

For the year ended December 31, 2002, PartnerRe reported operating earnings or $187.0 million or $3.60 per share on a fully diluted basis, compared to operating losses of $222.4 million, or $4.44 per share, for 2001.

Net income for the year, including realised investment losses of $16.7 million, was $190.3 million, or $3.28 per diluted share.

Operating earnings for the quarter ended December 31, 2002 were reported as $77 million or $1.46 per share on a fully diluted basis.

This compares to fourth quarter 2001 operating earnings of $17.2 million, or $0.33 per share, when the company's results were hit by its exposure to Enron Corp.

Net income for the three months ending on December 31, 2002, including net realised investment gains, was $88.4 million, or $1.58 per share on a fully diluted basis.

The net result for the fourth quarter of 2001, which also included a net realised investment gain of $6.7 million, was $28.9 million, or $0.46 per share.

At December 31, 2002, total assets were $8.7 billion up from $7.2 billion last year and shareholders' equity was $2.1 billion up from $1.7 billion.

Book value per common share was $34.02 on a fully diluted basis at December 31, 2002.

The company has also announced a regular quarterly dividend of $0.29 per common share.

The dividend will be payable on March 3, 2003 to common shareholders of record on February 21, 2003, with the stock trading ex-dividend commencing February 19, 2003. "Premium growth during the fourth quarter was significant, representing a 65% increase over the fourth quarter 2001," said Mr. Thiele.

Net premiums written were over $697 million for the three months ended December 31, 2002, compared to $422 million reported for the fourth quarter of 2001.

Net premiums written for the year grew 45 percent to $2.5 billion compared to $1.8 billion for 2001, far exceeding the company's predictions last year of 30 percent premium growth.

Total revenues for the year 2002 were $2.7 billion, with $2.4 billion of net premiums earned and net investment income of $245.2 million and net realised investment losses of $6.8 million. For the year ended December 31, 2001, revenues were $1.895 billion with net premiums earned of $1.66 billion, net investment income of $239.6 million and net realised investment gains of $20.2 million.

On a segment by segment basis, the company saw strongest results in its non-Life lines with "exception results" in the specialty business, especially catastrophe, aviation, property and energy.

The specialty lines had favourable loss experience in both catastrophe and aviation. The property and casualty businesses also experienced strong growth.

The Life segment, which only represents 7 percent of total annual premiums, had a technical loss of $21.1 million due to a $25 million write-down relating to a disposal in 2000. However the non-Life sectors achieved an excellent combined ratio for the year of 97.7 percent.