XL Capital’s (XL) third- quarter earnings of 89 cents per share were ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 76 cents per share. This compares to earnings of 39 cents per share in the prior year quarter. However on a GAAP basis the company reported a loss of 3 cents per share, versus a loss of $6.04 in the prior year period. Net loss came in at $11.4 million compared to a net loss of $1,649.0 million in the prior year quarter. The significant improvement in net loss is primarily due to a charge of $1.4 billion in the prior year quarter related to the transaction closed during Aug 2008 with Syncora Holdings Ltd. Net written premiums fell 4.4% year-over-year to $1.3 billion, while gross written premiums dropped 15.3% to $1.7 billion. Premium volumes have been negatively impacted by the global economic conditions, reduction in mergers ...