New York-based Travelers, part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, is one of the first big property-casualty insurers to report quarterly earnings, and its results are watched closely as a bellwether for others that follow.
The company is among the largest sellers of insurance to U.S. businesses and sells car and home insurance to individuals and families.
The insurer said Thursday its pretax catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, totaled $264 million during the quarter due to Hurricane Florence and other storms, compared with $700 million a year earlier. Last year’s catastrophe losses were unusually high due to hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Travelers posted core operating earnings of $687 million, or $2.54 a share, up from $253 million, or 91 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.
Core operating earnings are a widely watched industry benchmark because they exclude realized capital gains and losses in companies’ big investment portfolios as well as items that aren’t considered recurring in nature.
Net premiums written, an important measure of revenue growth, rose 6% to $7.06 billion.
Overall, Travelers reported a profit of $709 million, or $2.62 a share, up from $293 million, or $1.05 a share, a year earlier. Total revenue, which includes investment income, rose 5.4% to $7.72 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had expected earnings of $2.29 a share on $7 billion in revenue.
Earlier this month, Travelers began selling discounted home-security and sensor devices to its home-insurance customers on Amazon.com Inc., the first time an insurer has had a retail presence on the online retail giant.