Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. said this week that third-quarter net income fell 10%. to $40.8 million from $45.1 million for the same period last year.
The insurer's profits in the first nine months of 1994 rose 9.3%, to $143.3 million from $131.1 million in the first nine months of 1993.
Net premiums written declined for both the third quarter and first nine months of the year, reflecting the slowdown in municipal issuance.
FGIC had net premiums written of $27.2 million in the third quarter, down 52.1% from $56.8 million in the third quarter last year. For the first nine months of the year, the company reported net premiums written of $88.6 million, down 49.9% from $177.1 million in the first three quarters of the previous year.
"The company continues to face the challenges presented by today's marketplace with great confidence," said Ann C. Stern, FGIC's chairman and chief
executive officer. Stern said that net income declined "only modestly" in the third quarter despite the low level of refunding activity.
Stern said the insurer's earnings announcement, issued late Tuesday, also highlighted that "despite unfavorable market conditions, Financial Guaranty continues to build its capital strength."
The firm's statutory capital base stood at $1.2 billion as of Sept. 30, compared with just over $1 billion at Dec. 31, 1993.
