RenaissanceRe Reports Net Income of $167.8 Million for the First Quarter of 2015 or $4.14 Per Diluted Common Share; Quarterly Operating Income of $126.1 Million or $3.10 Per Diluted Common Share

Pembroke, Bermuda, May 5, 2015 -- RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: RNR) (the “Company” or “RenaissanceRe”) today reported net income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders of $167.8 million, or $4.14 per diluted common share, in the first quarter of 2015, compared to $151.0 million, or $3.56, respectively, in the first quarter of 2014. Operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders was $126.1 million, or $3.10 per diluted common share, for the first quarter of 2015, compared to $136.1 million, or $3.20, respectively, in the first quarter of 2014. The Company reported an annualized return on average common equity of 17.1% and an annualized operating return on average common equity of 12.9% in the first quarter of 2015, compared to 17.6% and 15.9%, respectively, in the first quarter of 2014. Book value per common share increased $5.06, or 5.6%, in the first quarter of 2015 to $95.21, compared to a 2.5% increase in the first quarter of 2014. Tangible book value per common share plus accumulated dividends decreased 0.5% in the first quarter of 2015, compared to a 2.8% increase in the first quarter of 2014.

Kevin J. O'Donnell, CEO, commented:  "We reported a solid first quarter, generating $167.8 million of net income and an annualized operating ROE of 12.9%.  Our results were driven by strong underwriting profits and investment performance." 

RenaissanceRe completed its acquisition of Platinum on March 2, 2015. As a result of the acquisition, the Company's consolidated results of operations for the first quarter of 2015 include those of Platinum from March 2, 2015 through March 31, 2015. During the first quarter of 2015, the Company recorded $40.4 million of corporate expenses associated with the acquisition of Platinum, comprised of $11.5 million of transaction-related expenses, $0.9 million of integration-related expenses and $28.0 million of compensation-related expenses. In addition, the Company recognized $83.6 million of identifiable intangible assets and $191.7 million of goodwill in connection with the acquisition of Platinum, or a total of $5.94 per common share at March 31, 2015. Also during the first quarter of 2015, the Company recognized an income tax benefit of $47.5 million related to a reduction in the Company’s deferred tax asset valuation allowance, principally due to the acquisition of Platinum.

FIRST QUARTER 2015 HIGHLIGHTS

Gross premiums written in the Catastrophe Reinsurance segment were $389.2 million in the first quarter of 2015, a decrease of $78.5 million, or 16.8%, compared to the first quarter of 2014, primarily driven by the continued softening of market conditions, including reduced risk-adjusted pricing for the January renewals, and the Company’s underwriting discipline given prevailing terms and conditions.

Managed catastrophe premiums decreased $72.9 million, or 14.7%, to $423.1 million in the first quarter of 2015, compared to $496.0 million in the first quarter of 2014.

The Catastrophe Reinsurance segment generated underwriting income of $108.2 million and a combined ratio of 24.8% in the first quarter of 2015, compared to $130.6 million and 20.7% in the first quarter of 2014, respectively. The $22.4 million decrease in underwriting income in the first quarter of 2015, compared to the first quarter of 2014, was driven by a $20.8 million decrease in net premiums earned, primarily due to lower gross premiums written during the preceding twelve months, and an $11.6 million increase in current accident year net claims and claim expenses driven by a number of winter storms in the U.S., partially offset by a $10.5 million increase in favorable development on prior accident years net claims and claim expenses.

The Catastrophe Reinsurance segment experienced $16.5 million of favorable development on prior accident years net claims and claim expenses in the first quarter of 2015, compared to $6.1 million in the first quarter of 2014. The favorable development on prior accident years net claims and claim expenses in the first quarter of 2015 was principally driven by $5.3 million related to the April and May 2011 U.S. Tornadoes, $1.5 million related to the 2008 Hurricanes (Gustav and Ike) and $9.8 million related to a number of other relatively small catastrophe events, each principally the result of changes in the Company’s estimated ultimate loss for each respective event.

Gross premiums written in the Specialty Reinsurance segment were $124.3 million in the first quarter of 2015, a decrease of $30.0 million, or 19.4%, compared to the first quarter of 2014, driven primarily by a decrease in certain credit related lines of business as a result of the non-renewal of a number of contracts during the first quarter of 2015, combined with continued underwriting discipline given prevailing terms and conditions, partially offset by increases in certain casualty lines of business. The Company’s specialty reinsurance premiums are prone to significant volatility as this business can be influenced by a relatively small number of relatively large transactions.

The Specialty Reinsurance segment generated underwriting income of $21.3 million and a combined ratio of 77.5% in the first quarter of 2015, compared to $16.9 million and 75.7% in the first quarter of 2014, respectively. Impacting underwriting income in the Specialty Reinsurance segment for the first quarter of 2015, compared to the first quarter of 2014, was a $25.2 million increase in net premiums earned as a result of higher gross premiums written during the preceding twelve months; partially offset by a $7.3 million increase in underwriting expenses, a $7.3 million increase in current accident year net claims and claim expenses and a $6.2 million decrease in favorable development on prior accident years net claims and claim expenses. The increase in current accident year net claims and claim expenses was principally due to a higher level of attritional losses, primarily as a result of the increase in net premiums earned. The Specialty Reinsurance segment experienced $9.7 million of favorable development on prior accident years net claims and claim expenses in the first quarter of 2015, compared to $15.8 million in the first quarter of 2014, principally as a result of better than expected claims emergence.

Gross premiums written in the Lloyd’s segment were $130.1 million in the first quarter of 2015, an increase of $46.9 million, or 56.3%, compared to the first quarter of 2014, primarily due to Syndicate 1458 continuing to grow organically in the Lloyd’s marketplace, notwithstanding challenging market conditions.

The Lloyd’s segment generated underwriting income of $1.7 million and a combined ratio of 97.0% in the first quarter of 2015, compared to $3.4 million and 93.5%, respectively, in the first quarter of 2014. Impacting underwriting income in the Lloyd’s segment during the first quarter of 2015 was a $5.9 million increase in net premiums earned as a result of the increase in gross premiums written; offset by a $4.1 million increase in acquisition expenses and a $3.6 million increase in net claims and claim expenses, each as discussed below. The increases in net premiums earned and acquisition expenses were primarily the result of the increase in gross premiums written noted above. Also impacting acquisition expenses was the increased proportion of quota share

The $3.6 million increase in net claims and claim expenses was principally due to a $4.5 million increase in attritional net claims and claim expenses as a result of the increase in net premiums earned, noted above, partially offset by a decrease in adverse development of prior accident years net claims and claim expenses of $0.9 million during the first quarter of 2015, with the adverse development principally due to reported claims activity coming in higher than expected on prior accident years events.

This Press Release includes certain non-GAAP financial measures including “operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders”, “operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders per common share - diluted”, “operating return on average common equity - annualized”, “managed catastrophe premiums”, “tangible book value per common share” and “tangible book value per common share plus accumulated dividends.” A reconciliation of such measures to the most comparable GAAP figures in accordance with Regulation G is presented in the attached supplemental financial data.

Please refer to the “Investor Information - Financial Reports - Financial Supplements” section of the Company’s website at www.renre.com for a copy of the Financial Supplement which includes additional information on the Company’s financial performance.

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. will host a conference call on Wednesday, May 6, 2015 at 10:00 am (ET) to discuss this release. Live broadcast of the conference call will be available through the “Investor Information - Company Webcasts” section of RenaissanceRe’s website at www.renre.com.

(1) Included in gross premiums written in the Other category is the elimination of inter-segment gross premiums written of $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015.

The Company uses “operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders” as a measure to evaluate the underlying fundamentals of its operations and believes it to be a useful measure of its corporate performance.  “Operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders” as used herein differs from “net income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders,” which the Company believes is the most directly comparable GAAP measure, by the exclusion of net realized and unrealized gains and losses on investments from continuing and discontinued operations and net other-than-temporary impairments. The Company’s management believes that “operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders” is useful to investors because it more accurately measures and predicts the Company’s results of operations by removing the variability arising from fluctuations in the Company’s fixed maturity investment portfolio and equity investments trading.  The Company also uses “operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders” to calculate “operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders per common share - diluted” and “operating return on average common equity - annualized”.  The following is a reconciliation of:  1) net income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders to operating income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders; 2) net income available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders per common share - diluted to operating income

available to RenaissanceRe common shareholders per common share - diluted; and 3) return on average common equity - annualized to operating return on average common equity - annualized:

The following is a reconciliation of book value per common share to tangible book value per common share and tangible book value per common share plus accumulated dividends: