Management Letter Old Republic marked the first year of the new century by posting the highest levels of per-share earnings, shareholders' equity, and cash dividends in our history. These record achievements came on the heels of 1999's disappointing financial results, which followed a string of 10 consecutive years of increasing earnings. Increases in net income and net operating income per share outpaced the reported whole dollar figures mostly due to a reduction in the number of shares outstanding stemming from the Company's stock repurchase program initiated in 1997.
Old Republic operates as a decentralized insurance holding company with four operating segments.
Each business unit within these segments focuses on a limited number of products or industries and is accountable for its results. We have attempted to avoid concentrating too many resources in any given area so as to create a diversified stream of revenues and earnings in which the results of stronger performing units hopefully offset those of weaker units. With this approach, Old Republic has achieved relatively consistent growth in profits over many years. Because most of the Group's policies are renewed or initially produced fairly evenly over the course of a year, it usually takes more than 12 months before those changes manifest themselves in the overall results. Over the year, however, competitive conditions changed with greater force in our favor.