(Reuters) - Travelers Companies Inc reported a profit for the second quarter but missed Wall Street expectations, as the insurer's catastrophe losses fell from a year before but were still higher than historical norms.
But Travelers, a Dow component, also said commercial insurance pricing rose more than 7 percent in the quarter. The company was one of the first in the industry to push and sustain price increases after years of weakness.
Last year marked a turning point, as the industry suffered one of its worst years ever, driven domestically by record-breaking tornadoes. This year has been somewhat more mild, and Travelers said after-tax catastrophe losses fell to $357 million from $1.09 billion a year earlier.
Travelers reported on Thursday a net profit of $499 million, or $1.26 per share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $364 million, or 88 cents per share.
On an operating basis, Travelers also earned $1.26 a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had on average expected per-share earnings of $1.35.
Because Travelers does not make forecasts, it is customary for the company's earnings to differ substantially from Wall Street estimates. Over the prior eight quarters, according to Thomson Reuters data, the average difference (either positive or negative) between the company's actual result and the mean estimate was almost 24 cents.
(Reporting By Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
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