Chubb Profits Rise 36 Percent in First Quarter

Despite a sizable increase in catastrophe claims, New Jersey-based insurer Chubb saw first quarter profits climb 36 percent to $463 million, up from $341 million in the year-ago quarter.

The impact of catastrophe claims for the quarter, which includes the East Coast storms in late March, was $344 million for the quarter, compared to $26 million in the same quarter last year.

“The headline for the property and casualty insurance industry in the first quarter was the extraordinary level of natural catastrophes worldwide, including the earthquake in Chile, storms in Australia and Europe and several severe storms on the East Coast,” said John D. Finnegan, chairman, president and chief executive officer.

The company’s combined ratio for the quarter was 93.6 percent, with catastrophe-related claims accounting for approximately 12.3 percentage points of that number. In the first quarter last year, the combined ration was 88.1 percent.

Net written premiums rose 1 percent to $2.8 billion. Chubb’s personal lines unit saw newt written premiums increase 4 percent to $874 million. Commercial lines saw a 1 percent decline in net written premiums to $1.2 billion. Chubb Specialty Insurance saw net written premiums rise 3 percent to $646 million.

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Source: Chubb