American
National Insurance Company (Nasdaq: ANAT) announced fourth
quarter 2004 net income of $79,746,000 ($3.01 per share), a 10%
increase compared to the $72,304,000 ($2.73 per share) reported
for the same period in 2003.
After-tax
net gain from operations for the fourth quarter was $65,154,000
($2.46 per share) compared with $49,609,000 ($1.87 per share)
for the same period in 2003.
After-tax net gain from operations excludes after-tax net
realized investment gains and losses.
After-tax
net realized investment gains were $14,592,000 ($0.55 per share)
for the fourth quarter of 2004 compared with after-tax net
realized gains of $22,695,000 ($0.86 per share) for the same
period in 2003.
ANNUAL RESULTS
Net
income for the year ended December 31, 2004 totaled $255,593,000
($9.65 per share), an increase of 40% compared to $182,165,000
($6.88 per share) for 2003.
The after-tax net gain from operations for 2004 totaled
$220,230,000 ($8.32 per share) compared to $160,802,000 ($6.07
per share) for 2003. After-tax net gain from operations excludes
after-tax net realized investment gains and losses, which
totaled a gain of $35,363,000 ($1.33 per share) for 2004
compared to a gain of $21,363,000 ($0.81 per share) in 2003.
OPERATIONS
Total
premium for 2004 was $1,906,176,000, an increase of 6.1% over
the amount for 2003. Policy
account deposits received were $1,553,930,000, versus
$2,694,407,000 for 2003. The
decrease in policy account deposits was primarily the result of
reduced annuity sales consistent with the Company’s 2004
business plan. Total
revenues for 2004 increased by 9.5% to $2,879,336,000, versus
$2,628,716,000 for 2003.
Assets as
of December 31, 2004 rose to $16,570,827,000, a 9.4% increase
over the balance at December 31, 2003. Stockholders’ equity as of December 31, 2004 reached
$3,295,758,000 ($124.46 per share), a 5.9% increase from the end
of 2003.
The
property and casualty business of the Company’s Multiple Line
operations was the largest contributor to the increase in
operating earnings. After-tax
gain from the property and casualty business for 2004 was
$99,397,000, which was a 70% increase over the results of 2003.
The Multiple Line results were industry leading in many
components tracked and considered to be key performance
indicators by the Company, with the property and casualty
combined ratio improving from 97.3% to 92.8%.
The strong increase in earnings was achieved in spite of
record catastrophe losses in 2004, primarily caused by the four
Florida hurricanes.
Operating
earnings in the Credit Division were negatively impacted by
reserves established in December 2004 for the uncollectibility
of accounts receivable associated with producer owned reinsurers.
The after-tax impact of these reserves was a reduction in
income of $10,800,000.
Improved
profit margins on the growing block of annuity business helped
the Company’s Independent Marketing operation contribute
$16,796,000 to the after-tax gain from operations for 2004,
which was an improvement of 135.9% from the gain of $7,119,000
reported for 2003.
American National Insurance
Company
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