Global property and casualty insurer
Chubb announced a better-than-expected $569mn fourth-quarter net income Thursday, thanks in large part to a decrease in claims and higher commercial rates that protected the company from catastrophes like Super Storm Sandy.
According to Chubb’s announcement, net earned premium rose 4% to $3.04bn, while losses and loss expenses fell 30% to $1.66bn. Altogether, it accounted for a profit five times higher than the insurer’s third-quarter income.
“Our combined ratio in the quarter was a very strong 85.5%, once again reflecting the impact of higher rates and strong underwriting performance in all of our business accounts,” Chubb CEO John Finnegan said.
Despite this success, however, Chubb warned that first-quarter results would likely be hurt by the severe winter weather that ravaged significant portions of the United States. Chubb said it expected the losses would trim net profit by 39 to 52 cents per share after tax.
Comparatively, Chubb outpaced its rival,
Travelers Inc., which reported a three-fold rise in profit last week.
Travelers also credited low catastrophe loss margins for the profit increase.
