PartnerRe’s profits plunged 83 percent compared to last year in the fourth quarter to $57 million, as catastrophe losses took a heavy toll.In its earnings statement last night the company said an upward revision to losses from the September earthquake in New Zealand, plus the impact of flooding in Australia, added 12 points to the company’s combined ratio, translating to a loss of $163 million.PartnerRe’s combined ratio of 94.6 percent reflects the percentage of premium dollars spent on claims and expenses and was up from 80.3 percent for the same period a year earlier, when there were no significant catastrophe losses.The company’s full-year profit for 2010 was $852.6 million, down 43 percent from last year’s $1.5 billion. Full-year catastrophe losses were $564 million, in a year in which major insured losses also stemmed from the Chile earthquake in February and the loss of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.PartnerRe’s fourth-quarter operating earnings of $1.52 per share beat the $1.35 estimate of analysts polled by Bloomberg. And over the year, the company’s book value per share rose by 11 percent to close at a record $93.77. Yesterday, PartnerRe’s shares closed at $82.35 in New York Stock Exchange trading.Chief exectuive officer Costas Miranthis, who succeeded Patrick Thiele at the start of this year, said: “Despite a challenging quarter and year, both of which included a number of catastrophe and large loss events, our underlying portfolio continues to perform well.“We are also pleased with the performance of our investment portfolio, although lower reinvestment rates continue to impact operating earnings. This performance, combined with the capital management activities we executed during 2010, resulted in our book value per share growing 11 percent year-over-year to close at a new high for PartnerRe.”Most industry sources have reported a decline in rates for January renewals, when some reinsurance buyers renew their coverage. PartnerRe was no exception.“We saw a continuation of moderately declining pricing and terms in the January 1, 2011 renewals,” Mr Miranthis said. “As planned, we optimised the combined portfolio including the former Paris Re business to improve balance and risk-adjusted returns.“In the current market, this led to the non-renewal of some business and restructuring of other business. Although current market conditions remain challenging, our strong capital position, global franchise and broad capabilities position us well to take advantage of any opportunities as they arise.”Gross premiums written fell to $827.3 million in the fourth quarter from $920.6 million in the same period of last year. But for the full year, there was a substantial increase from $4 billion to $4.88 billion, helped by the impact of the the acquisition of Swiss insurer Paris Re, which was completed in December 2009.The full-year combined ratio was 95 percent, compared to 81.8 percent in 2009.Fourth-quarter investment income declined to $160.8 million from $182 million in 2009, while for the full year net investment income climbed to $672.8 million from $596.1 million.During the fourth quarter of 2010, the PartnerRe repurchased 5.1 million common shares at a total cost of approximately $400 million. For the full year 2010, the Company repurchased 14.0 million common shares at a total cost of approximately $1.1 billion. At December 31, 2010, approximately 6.5 million common shares remained under current repurchase authorisation.The company also announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of 55 cents per common share.www.partnerre.com