Chubb beats Q3 profit estimates on strong underwriting income

Investing.com -- Chubb Ltd (NYSE: CB) reported third quarter adjusted earnings per share of $7.66, beating analyst estimates of $6.79, as the global insurer posted strong underwriting results despite higher catastrophe losses.

The company reported net income of $7.30 per share and core operating income of $7.66 per share for the quarter ended September 30. Net premiums written rose 1.9% to $15.1 billion. P&C underwriting income reached $2.06 billion with a combined ratio of 84.1%, while the current accident year combined ratio excluding catastrophe losses was 82.6%. Pre-tax catastrophe losses totaled $705 million compared with $285 million in the prior year quarter.

Shares fell 0.2% in after-hours trading Tuesday.

"We had a really strong quarter with strong contributions from all of our businesses," said Evan G. Greenberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "P&C underwriting, investment and life income results led to core operating earnings of $2.98 billion, or $7.66 per share."

For the nine months, core operating income reached a record $8.60 billion, or $21.94 per share, up 21.0% and 24.5% respectively from the prior year. Annualized core operating return on tangible equity was 21.6% and core operating ROE was 14.9%.

North America Commercial P&C net premiums written declined 2.7%, impacted by exposure reductions including increased reinsurance use and underwriting-related non-renewals in property and financial lines. However, Overseas General Insurance grew 6.7%, with Latin America up 11.7%, Asia up 7.5% and Europe up 6.8%. North America Personal P&C increased 5.3% and Agriculture rose 5.1%.

Pre-tax net investment income was $1.79 billion, up 8.6%, while adjusted net investment income reached a record $1.89 billion, up 6.3%.

The company returned $1.57 billion to shareholders in the quarter through $1.18 billion in share repurchases and $393 million in dividends.

Original Article

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