Queensway boosted by operating recovery

Queensway Financial Holdings (TSE: QFH) is making further strides in its effort to improve operating results, as the company”s second quarter financial reports show. Net income for the quarter ending June this year amounted to $1.7 million, up dramatically from the $21.8 million loss reported for the same period last year.

Net income for the first six months of 2000 came in at $3 million, also a mammoth improvement on last year’s loss of $27.1 million. Earnings of 50 a share were reported against the loss of $1.80 a share delivered for the second quarter of 1999. Internal growth resulted in a 15.5% increase in gross premiums written compared with last year’s second quarter, the company reports. Net premiums earned also rose 13.3% over the same period in 1999. Significantly, the company’s plan to improve its operating results has also begun to pay off. The combined ratio for Queensway’s insurance operations dropped to 103% for the quarter, and 105% year-to-date, from last year’s overall ratio of 109%.

The results are welcome news for the company, which fell into a financial slump in 1998 and has since undergone major restructuring, the directors observe. “We are beginning to see the results of our efforts to reorganize and refocus our companies into fewer, more efficient operations,” says Queensway president Jim Petcoff. “As we continue through 2000, our focus remains on two goals — refinancing our corporate debt and funding our future growth, and continuing to execute operating and underwriting improvements to increase profits from operations.”