Alleghany Corp De (Y) SEC Filing 10-K Annual report for the fiscal year ending Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Exhibit 99.1

ALLEGHANY CORPORATION

7 Times Square Tower, 17^th Floor

New York, NY 10036

ALLEGHANY CORPORATION REPORTS 2014 FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR RESULTS

Book Value per Common Share Increases 12.7% in 2014

NEW YORK, NY, February 24, 2015

– Alleghany Corporation (NYSE-Y) announced today its financial results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2014. Book value per common share¹ grew to $465.51 as of December 31, 2014, an increase of 12.7% from book value per common share of $412.96 at 2013 year-end and up 2.1% from book value per common share of $456.10 at September 30, 2014. Total stockholders’ equity² increased to $7.5 billion as of December 31, 2014 from approximately $6.9 billion as of December 31, 2013.

Alleghany reported net earnings³ of $139.1 million, or $8.61 per diluted share for the 2014 fourth quarter, compared with $205.3 million, or $12.24 per diluted share for the 2013 fourth quarter. For the full year 2014, Alleghany reported net earnings³ of $679.2 million, or $41.40 per diluted share, compared with $628.4 million, or $37.44 per diluted share for 2013. Full year 2014 and 2013 results each represent a 9.4% return on equity.

Concurrent with the issuance of today’s earnings press release, Alleghany has posted a financial supplement to its website, www.alleghany.com, containing a number of schedules that provide additional detail pertaining to Alleghany’s financial results.

Weston M. Hicks, President and chief executive officer, commented, “Our two largest franchises TransRe and RSUI both produced excellent underwriting results in the fourth quarter and in 2014 benefitted from a light property catastrophe loss year. These two businesses contributed to a consolidated combined ratio of 88.9% for the quarter compared with 90.6% for the fourth quarter of last year and 88.8% in 2014 compared with 90.1% for last year. Focusing on the longer-term, RSUI’s strong underwriting expertise and experience has helped produce a remarkable inception to date combined ratio of 81.8% over our 11-plus years of ownership. While we have owned TransRe for slightly less than three years, its results have also been impressive, producing a combined ratio of 90.1% over our ownership period while maintaining excellent customer relationships and a strong balance sheet.”

“Despite competitive headwinds, net premiums written were up 2.5% in the quarter aided by top line growth primarily in our reinsurance segment where TransRe benefitted from favorable signings with its clients, particularly in the property line of business. Net premiums written in the insurance segment in the fourth quarter of 2014 were flat compared to those of the fourth quarter of 2013, with continued top-line expansion at both PacificComp and CapSpecialty being offset by a decline in premium volume at RSUI as the company maintains underwriting discipline in a more competitive market, particularly in property lines. While we anticipate that PacificComp and CapSpecialty will continue to find opportunities to expand their current premium bases, our two major holdings will likely find top-line growth challenging in this environment.”

During 2014, Alleghany repurchased an aggregate of 732,391 shares of its common stock in the open market for $300.5 million, at an average price per share of $410.27, of which 182,538 shares were repurchased in the fourth quarter of 2014 for $78.0 million, at an average price per share of $427.49.

As of December 31, 2014, Alleghany had 16,054,323 shares of its common stock outstanding, compared with 16,766,192 shares of its common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2013.

 

 

1	Stockholders’ equity attributable to Alleghany stockholders divided by common stock outstanding.

2	Stockholders’ equity attributable to Alleghany stockholders.

3	Earnings attributable to Alleghany stockholders.

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The following information was filed by Alleghany Corp De (Y) on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 as an 8K 2.02 statement, which is an earnings press release pertaining to results of operations and financial condition. It may be helpful to assess the quality of management by comparing the information in the press release to the information in the accompanying 10-K Annual Report statement of earnings and operation as management may choose to highlight particular information in the press release.