Earnings from Greenlight Capital Re Ltd. (NYSE:GLRE) arrived after the market closed on Monday afternoon. The reinsurance firm showed a loss of $0.24 per share for the three-month period. Revenue came in at $101 million. On today’s market shares in Greenlight Re traded predominantly flat, and finished the day trading at $32.76.
In the run up to the release of the earnings numbers, analysts following Greenlight Capital Re Ltd. (NYSE:GLRE) were expecting a comparatively bad quarter from the company. The only analyst surveyed by Businessweek was expecting the company to show a loss of 13 cents for the three months. Revenue was expected to come in at $123 million.
Greenlight Capital’s growth stalls in 2014
Greenlight Capital Re Ltd. (NYSE:GLRE) shares have had a tough time so far in 2014. The company’s stock has been mostly flat in the opening months of the year after great growth seen in 2013. The firm’s stock has fallen in value by close to 3% since 2014 began, but over the last twelve months the firm’s stock has increased in value by around 35%.
Greenlight CEO, in the release that accompanied earnings, said “We continue to focus our underwriting efforts on creating long-term relationships in areas of the market that we feel provide attractive returns to our shareholders.”
Investments constrained by uncertainty of 2014
David Einhorn, who leads the company’s board of directors explained some of the problems the company faced in the opening months of the year, “Our investment portfolio had a small loss as we continue to be defensively positioned in an uncertain investment environment. Our underwriting team continues to proceed carefully under challenging reinsurance market conditions.”
Despite the poorer than expected numbers in the earnings report shares in Greenlight Capital Re Ltd. (NYSE:GLRE) traded flat in after market movement. Book value per share, which is an important part of valuing a company like Greenlight, grew from $23.45 on March 31 2013 to $27.61 on the same date this year. That increase likely accounted for the flat reception of the earnings numbers this afternoon.
A conference call to discuss these earnings with Greenlight Capital Re Ltd. (NYSE:GLRE) management will be held at 9 AM on Tuesday, May 6.
