Blue Capital Re’s reserving process is highly dependent on loss information received from its cedants and the Managers.
During the three month period ended March 31, 2014, Blue Capital Re established $0.9 million of loss and LAE reserves, nearly all of which constituted IBNR reserves. As of December 31, 2013, Blue Capital Re had not yet established any loss and LAE reserves.
NOTE 3. Derivative Instruments
In December 2013 Blue Capital Re ILS entered into an ILW swap (the “ILW Swap”) with a third-party under which qualifying loss payments are triggered by reference to the level of losses incurred by the insurance industry as a whole, rather than by losses incurred by the insured. In return for a fixed payment of $1.5 million, Blue Capital Re ILS is required to make a floating-rate payment in the event of certain losses incurred from specified natural catastrophes in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand from November 2013 to December 2014. Blue Capital Re ILS’s maximum payment obligation under the ILW Swap is $10.0 million. Through March 31, 2014, Blue Capital Re ILS was not aware of any industry loss event occurring that would have triggered a payment obligation under the ILW Swap.
The ILW Swap is valued on the basis of models developed by the Managers, which represent unobservable (Level 3) inputs. See Note 1. As of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, the fair value of the ILW Swap was $1.4 million and $1.5 million, respectively, and was recorded as an other liability on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.
During the three month period ended March 31, 2014, Blue Capital Re recognized net income from derivative instruments of $0.1 million pursuant to the ILW Swap.
NOTE 4. Shareholders’ Equity
Common Shares
The Company’s share capital consists of Common Shares with a $1.00 par value per share. Holders of Common Shares are entitled to one vote for each share held, subject to any voting limitations imposed by the Company’s Bye-Laws. As of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, the Company had 8,750,000 Common Shares outstanding.
Common Share Dividends
On March 31, 2014, the Company declared its first regular quarterly dividend of $0.30 per Common Share, which was paid on April 30, 2014 to shareholders of record as of April 15, 2014. As of March 31, 2014, the Company had $2.6 million of dividends payable to holders of Common Shares.
There are restrictions on the payment of dividends to the Company from Blue Capital Re. See Note 8. Any future determination to pay dividends to holders of Common Shares will be at the discretion of the Board and will be dependent upon many factors, including the Company’s results of operations, cash flows, financial position, capital requirements, general business opportunities, and legal, regulatory and contractual restrictions.
Common Share Repurchase Authorization
As of March 31, 2014, the Company had no Common Share repurchase authorization as part of publicly announced plans or programs.
NOTE 5. Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Common Share
The Company applies the two-class method of calculating its earnings per Common Share. In applying the two-class method, any outstanding Restricted Share Units (“RSUs”) are considered to be participating securities. See Note 6. As of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, the Company had no outstanding RSUs so it was not required to use the two-class method to determine its basic and diluted earnings per Common Share.