ProCentury Corp. Reports Q1 Numbers

Ohio-based ProCentury Corporation announced financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2004.

On April 26, ProCentury completed an initial public offering (IPO)
in which it issued eight million of its common shares at an initial offering price of $10.50 per share. In connection with the IPO, the company exited the specialty surety lines of business through the disposition of its subsidiaries, Evergreen National Indemnity Company and Continental Heritage Insurance Company.

As a result, following the IPO, ProCentury’s sole remaining insurance subsidiary is Century Surety Company, allowing the company
to focus on its property and casualty excess and surplus lines of business.

As of April 26, Evergreen and Continental and the related specialty
surety lines of business are no longer a part of ProCentury.

ProCentury’s net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2004 was $2.9 million or $0.58 per share compared to $848,000 or $0.17 per share for the same period in 2003. Gross written premiums were $49.4 million in the first quarter of 2004 compared to $39.9 million for the first quarter of 2003. Net premiums earned were $34.5 million in the first quarter of 2004 compared with $24.6 million reported for the same period of 2003. The combined ratio was 91.5% for the quarter ended March 31, 2004, compared with 97.5% for the first quarter of 2003.

ProCentury’s pro forma net income was $2.6 million or $0.19 per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2004 based on 13.1 million common shares outstanding which includes the 8 million shares issued in the IPO. Pro forma gross written premiums were $42.9 million in the first quarter of 2004. Pro forma net written premiums were $36.6 million for the first quarter and net premiums earned were $32.1 million. The pro forma combined ratio for the first quarter of 2004 was 93.1%.

Commenting on the results of the quarter, Chris Timm, president of Century Surety Company said, “All of the newly implemented strategies and procedures that were put in place to prepare the Company for the IPO have proven to be highly effective. We continue to monitor loss reserves and expenses closely as we focus on maintaining underwriting profitability.”

The company is currently expecting gross written premiums for the year ended Dec. 31, 2004 to range between $190 and $205 million.