Markel Corporation – Another quarter of strong steady progress!
Markel Corp. (NYSE:MKL) the speciality insurer released Q2 2018 results!
The transcript of the Earnings Conference Call has been published by Thomson Reuters.
This marks another quarter of strong steady progress:
Book value/share the all important metric in the insurance industry grew 6,1% yoy to $682,76
Operating revenue grew 34,2% yoy to $1.987 billion and net income per diluted share grew an even more impressive 93,7% to $19.97
Only comprehensive income came in at $164,3 million down from $342.4 million due to a write down of the fixed income portfolio required by accounting standards.
At the insurance operations the combined ratio was a very good 92%
At Markel Ventures operating revenue grew 84.6% to $578.9 million thanks to an acquisition.
In the investment operations segment, the net investment income grew 6.9% from $199 million to $213 million.
Markel’s stock closed at $ 1’178.91 which translates into a price/book ratio of 1.7
Rather expensive for this company which normally trades at no more than 1.5 price/book ratio.
But given the high quality of Markel Corp. and their continued acquisition activity, this price could still be justified for a buyer with a real long term horizon.