MLAN Midland Co (MM)

The Midland Company Reports Hurricane Frances Losses - On track to meet previous earnings guidance CINCINNATI, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Midland Company (NASDAQ:MLAN), a highly focused provider of specialty insurance products and services, today reported projected losses from Hurricane Frances. "Based on the information received to date, we expect to incur pre-tax losses, net of reinsurance, from Hurricane Frances of $3.0 million to $4.0 million, or 10 cents to 14 cents per share (after-tax, diluted). Our strategy to limit our Florida exposures coupled with our comprehensive reinsurance program helped soften the impact on our bottom line," stated John W. Hayden, Midland president and chief executive officer. Hayden said, "Our catastrophe reinsurance program is an essential component to our risk management strategy. We structure our multi-dimensional program to limit our losses from individual catastrophes as well as from a series of catastrophes in a given year. We believe that the approach we take in designing our reinsurance program and the discipline we take in exposure management are key elements of our fundamental strength. We believe these strategies reduce our earnings volatility and maximize the value to our shareholders." American Modern Insurance Group, Midland's insurance subsidiary, has mobilized 21 employee adjusters to catastrophe claim offices in Orlando, Florida, and Lakeland, Florida. "We are working around the clock to provide superior service to our policyholders. We believe our prompt claims service demonstrates our value and commitment to our policyholders," Hayden added. Hayden also updated the Company's estimate of losses relative to Hurricane Charley, which made landfall on the gulf coast of Florida in mid-August. "At the time of our August 19, 2004 press release, we had incurred gross pre-tax losses from Hurricane Charley of approximately $4.0 million. Our pre-tax losses from Hurricane Charley, net of reinsurance, have developed in line with our expectations and are expected to total between $6.0 million and $6.5 million, or 20 cents to 22 cents per share (after-tax, diluted). "Two months into the third quarter, we continue to see favorable non- catastrophe underwriting results in our core lines of business, including site-built dwelling, motorcycle, watercraft and manufactured housing," Hayden said. "At this point, we believe that we are still on track to meet our previously reported full-year earnings per share guidance of to $2.40 to $2.60 per share, which includes 18 cents of capital gains realized through June 30, 2004, assuming normalized weather for the remainder of the 2004. This is a remarkable achievement given the magnitude of Hurricane Charley and Hurricane Frances and underscores the strong non-catastrophe underwriting results in our core lines and our disciplined approach to exposure management." Hayden continued, "We are also closely monitoring Hurricane Ivan as it approaches the southern United States. At this point, it is difficult to gauge with any degree of accuracy where this storm will make landfall. However, it is important to note that our reinsurance coverages available for the next large catastrophic event are identical to those coverages that we had in place for Hurricane Frances." About the Company Midland, which is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a provider of specialty insurance products and services through its wholly owned subsidiary, American Modern Insurance Group, which accounts for approximately 96 percent of Midland's consolidated revenue. American Modern specializes in writing physical damage insurance and related coverages on manufactured housing and has expanded to other specialty insurance products including coverage for site-built homes, motorcycles, watercraft, snowmobiles, recreational vehicles, physical damage on long-haul trucks, extended service contracts, excess and surplus lines coverages, credit life and related products as well as collateral protection and mortgage fire products sold to financial institutions and their customers. Midland also owns a niche transportation business, M/G Transport Group, which operates a fleet of dry cargo barges for the movement of dry bulk commodities on the inland waterways. Midland's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol MLAN. Additional information on the company can be found on the Internet at http://www.midlandcompany.com/ . Forward Looking Statements Disclosure Certain statements made in this press release are forward-looking and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include certain discussions relating to underwriting, premium and investment income volume, business strategies, profitability and business relationships, as well as any other statements concerning the year 2004 and beyond. The forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause results to differ materially from those anticipated in those statements. Factors that might cause results to differ from those anticipated include, without limitation, adverse weather conditions, changes in underwriting results affected by adverse economic conditions, fluctuations in the investment markets, changes in the retail marketplace, changes in the laws or regulations affecting the operations of the company or its subsidiaries, changes in the business tactics or strategies of the company, its subsidiaries or its current or anticipated business partners, the financial condition of the company's business partners, acquisitions or divestitures, changes in market forces, litigation and the other risk factors that have been identified in the company's filings with the SEC, any one of which might materially affect the operations of the company or its subsidiaries. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date on which they are made. DATASOURCE: The Midland Company CONTACT: John I. Von Lehman, Executive Vice President and CFO of The Midland Company, +1-513-943-7100 Web site: http://www.midlandcompany.com/

Copyright