Q3 2011 Results Link-o-rama

I’ll pull together earnings announcements for the 25 largest property-casualty insurers and 10 largest reinsurers on this page. I’ll update as information becomes available.

These come from each company’s web site. I will link to the news release announcing results, the 10-Q filed with the SEC, any investor call or webcast discussing results and any PowerPoints made as part of the webcast.

Not all companies have all materials. U.S. mutuals, for example, aren’t required to post quarterly earnings, so I will have nothing for State Farm and a couple of others. I keep them on the list, though, so you aren’t wondering why they were omitted.

Most companies have press releases announcing earnings, but a couple don’t. Foreign companies not subject to SEC regulations – Munich Re, for example – do not file a 10-Q. But they have analogous financial reports, which I will include.

Where I can find it, I will add a clip from a media report so you can tell quickly how the company did.

I will also include additional links to other interesting stuff I find. For example, in Q2 Swiss Re released loss triangles that appear to tie to Q2 earnings announcements, so I included a link then. Finally, these links generally lead to downloadable PDFs. If I see something I think will be handier in Excel form, I will link to that.

U.S.

State Farm: No formal announcement

Zurich: Press release, details, conference call, media report:

Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) — Zurich Financial Services AG, Switzerland’s biggest insurer, posted a bigger-than-estimated third-quarter profit as lower German interest rates and a drop in U.K. equities produced a hedging gain of $720 million.

Net income rose 64 percent to $1.24 billion, the Zurich- based company said today in a statement, beating the $810 million mean estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Allstate: Press release, additional information, media report:

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–Allstate Corp.’s (ALL) third-quarter profit fell 55% to $165 million, driven by elevated claims costs tied to Hurricane Irene and several smaller natural disasters.

But the company had warned about the elevated catastrophe losses in advance, and Allstate’s operating results exceeded the dire predictions of analysts. Its operating profit of 16 cents a share was double the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

AIG: Press release, Financial supplement, 10-Q, conference call, media report:

DES MOINES, Iowa — Insurer AIG on Thursday posted a steeper third-quarter loss, undercut by declining interest rates and weak stock markets that reduced the value of its holdings while it paid out storm losses. It also took a big one-time charge for a fleet of older less fuel-efficient aircraft.New York-based American International Group Inc. reported a loss of $4.1 billion, or $2.16 per share, compared with a loss of $2.52 billion, or $18.53 per share a year ago.

The operating loss was $3.04 billion, or $1.60 per share, up from a loss of $114 million, or 84 cents a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected a loss of 22 cents per share.

$62M adverse development on prior year reserves at Chartis, I might add, this after the $4.6B hit in Q4 last year. The excess WC continues to burn, and the company is exiting the business.

Liberty Mutual: Press release, additional information, media report:

Liberty Mutual Group reported a net loss of $111 million for its third quarter. In contrast, the third-largest property/casualty insurer in the U.S. had posted net profit of $567 million during the same quarter last year.

The company’s result was hurt by large catastrophe losses and an asbestos-related charge. Its CAT losses for the quarter came in at $596 million, more than a threefold increase compared to one year ago when the company reported $133 million in CAT losses.

The insurer added an asbestos/environmental charge of $339 million for the quarter. One year ago, the company added just $2 million for the asbestos/environmental charge.

Travelers: Press release, 10-Q, webcast, webcast transcript, presentation, media report:

Travelers Cos., the lone insurer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, said third-quarter profit fell 67 percent on claims from natural disasters including Hurricane Irene.

Net income slipped to $333 million, or 79 cents a share, from $1.01 billion, or $2.11, a year earlier, the New York-based insurer said today in a statement. Operating profit, which excludes some investment results, was 79 cents a share, missing the 83-cent average estimate of 21 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Berkshire Hathaway: Press release, 10-Q,  media report:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said Friday that its third-quarter profit fell 24 percent from a year ago due to a sharp decline in the value of its equity derivative contracts following the wild swings in the stock market this summer.

Paper losses aside, most of the mammoth company’s business segments, including its railroad, insurance underwriting and manufacturing operations, reported improved earnings for the quarter.

Berkshire said net income was $2.28 billion, or $1,380 per Class A share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. That’s down from net income of nearly $3 billion, or $1,814 per Class A share, a year earlier.

On a Class B share basis, the company’s earnings amounted to 92 cents a share, down from $1.21 a share.

Berkshire’s results fell short of the $1.20 per Class B share three analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected on average.

Revenue slid to $33.7 billion from $36.3 billion last year.

Nationwide: Press release, financial information, media report:

Ohio-based Nationwide Insurance reported Friday that the company had a rough third quarter as a result of increased storm claims and investment losses.

The company, which has significant operations in Des Moines, reported that net operating income fell to $21 million in the third quarter from $225 million a year earlier, pulled down by a $400 million increase in property and casualty losses due to an increase in weather-related claims. Property and casualty losses for the period totaled $2.91 billion, compared with $2.51 billion a year ago.

When certain investment losses and other write-downs are included, the insurer reported a net loss of $852 million for the period ended Sept. 30, compared with a profit of $85 million a year earlier. Investment losses for the period totaled $1.26 billion, up from $214 million a year ago.

Progressive: Announcement, Q3 report, conference call, 10-Q

USAA: No formal announcement

Hartford: It’s all here. Except the media report:

Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) — Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., the life and property-casualty insurer, said costs tied to slumping equity markets and claims from Hurricane Irene wiped out profit in the third quarter.

The net loss was 2 cents a share, compared with net income of $666 million, or $1.34, a year earlier, the Hartford, Connecticut-based company said today in a statement. Excluding some investment results, profit was 5 cents a share, missing the 23-cent average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Chubb: Press release, 10-Q, webcast, transcript, supplement, media report:

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) — Chubb Corp., the insurer of commercial property and high-end homes, said quarterly profit fell 48 percent on costs from catastrophes including Hurricane Irene. The insurer trimmed its forecast for full-year earnings.

Third-quarter net income declined to $298 million, or $1.04 a share, from $572 million, or $1.80, a year earlier, the Warren, New Jersey-based company said today in a statement. Operating profit, which excludes some investment results, was 88 cents a share, compared with 77 cents, the average estimate of 21 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Catastrophe costs rose to $420 million pretax from $58 million a year earlier, Chubb said. Irene pounded the U.S. East Coast in August with flooding rains and high winds.

ACE: Press release, 10-Q, webcast, transcript, supplement, media report:

Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) — Ace Ltd., the Swiss insurer operating in more than 50 countries, had a third-quarter loss of $31 million on a charge tied to variable-annuity reinsurance. Ace increased its forecast for full-year operating profit.

The net loss was 9 cents a share compared with profit of $675 million, or $1.97, a year earlier, the Zurich-based company said today in a statement. Operating profit, which excludes some investment results, was $2.22 a share, beating the $1.78 average estimate of 20 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

The variable-annuity business net loss was $660 million, Ace said. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Evan Greenberg has been diversifying risk by expanding through acquisitions in countries including Malaysia and South Korea and adding business lines such as crop insurance.

CNA: Press release, 10-Q, webcast, transcript, media report:

Commercial insurer CNA Financial Corp. on Monday posted a third-quarter profit, reversing a loss last year when it sold off asbestos and pollution risks at a loss.

But without that offset, the company said operating income fell, as more business could not offset a drop in investment income and increased claims.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, the company posted net income of $75 million, or 28 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $140 million, or 59 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Adjusted for investment losses, CNA said its operating income for the quarter was 34 cents per share, compared with 69 cents per share a year ago.

Total revenue fell 8 percent to $2.18 billion, from $2.36 billion last year.

Analysts, on average, were expecting profit of 10 cents per share, on revenue of $1.79 billion, according to data provided by FactSet.

American Family: No formal announcement

Allianz: It’s all here. Except the media report:

Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) — Allianz SE, Europe’s biggest insurer, posted a bigger-than-estimated 84 percent drop in third-quarter profit after writedowns on Greek government debt and investments in financial companies.

Net income fell to 196 million euros ($267 million) from 1.26 billion euros a year earlier, the Munich-based insurer said in a statement today. That compares with the 660 million-euro average estimate of 20 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Allianz said non-operating impairments totaled 931 million euros, including losses on investments in banks and insurers and a 122 million-euro writedown on Greek debt. That helped almost double the firm’s tax rate. The insurer, led by Chief Executive Officer Michael Diekmann, 56, reiterated its full-year operating profit target of 7.5 billion euros to 8.5 billion euros.

Auto-Owners: No formal announcement

QBE: QBE, an Australian company, only formally reports half-yearly

Erie: Press release, 10-Q, transcript, webcast, media report:

Erie Indemnity, the managing company for Erie Insurance Group’s reciprocal insurance company, reported $47 million third-quarter profit.

Profit is down 13 percent compared to one year ago. The third-quarter 2010 net income result included $7 million related to the operations sold to Erie Insurance Exchange, Erie Insurance Group’s reciprocal insurance company.

Erie Indemnity earned $62 million pre-tax from management operations, up 7 percent from last year. Its pre-tax investment operations income came in at $5 million, down from $20 million one year ago.

Erie Indemnity is a publicly traded company and part of Erie Insurance Group. It provides management services for sales, underwriting, and issuance of policies of Erie Insurance Exchange.

Additionally, Erie Insurance Group reported third-quarter net loss of $180 million, down sharply from last year when the company reported $275 million profit for the quarter. The company’s result was hurt by a big fall in investment operations and insurance loss expenses.

The 10-Q quarterly report shows Erie Insurance Group suffered a $274 million loss from investment operations, in contrast to last year when it reported $343 million profit from investment operations.

Assurant: Press release, 10-Q, webcast, transcript, media report:

Oct 26 (Reuters) – U.S. specialty insurer Assurant Inc posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings helped by improved international underwriting business.

The company’s net income almost halved to $76 million, or 79 cents per share, from $141.7 million, or $1.30 per share, a year ago due to losses caused by storms.

Operating profit — a key measure of profitability for insurance companies — was 79 cents per share.

Analysts on average had expected Assurant to earn 77 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company posted catastrophe losses of $52.3 million after-tax at Assurant Specialty Property.

American Financial: Press release, 10-Q, webcast, supplement, media report:

(RTTNews) – American Financial Group Inc. (AFG: News ) reported that its third-quarter net income attributable to shareholders decreased to $96 million or $0.94 per share from $132 million or $1.21 per share prior year.

Core net operating earnings were $91 million or $0.90 per share compared to $117 million or $1.07 per share last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit of $0.85 per share for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

W.R. Berkley: Press release, 10-Q, webcast, media report:

W.R. Berkley Corp.’s (WRB) third-quarter profit fell 17% on higher loss expenses, but core results beat expectations as the insurer’s net premiums written continued to climb.

Shares closed at 8.2% to $36.57 on the stronger-than-expected results. The stock had risen 23% this year though the close.

“The visibility of a cycle change is even more evident, with prices for the quarter up three percent over last year,” Chairman and Chief Executive William R. Berkley said.

The company, which focuses on niche property and casualty markets such as wine inventories and National Football League teams, reported steady improvement in net underwriting premiums over the past year, though higher claims expensive have pressured recent results.

Because it doesn’t offer personal lines like auto and homeowner’s insurance, the company has less exposure than others to catastrophe losses, which have risen sharply this year because of devastating natural disasters in Japan, New Zealand and Australia, as well as damage from Hurricane Irene, which raked the heavily populated U.S. East Coast. The company this month said it expected third-quarter catastrophe losses between $50 million and $60 million after reinsurance recoveries and reinstatement premiums.

Cincinnati: Press release, 10-Q, webcast, transcript, media report:

Cincinnati Financial Corp.  has reported third quarter 2011 operating earnings of 13 cents per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate, but down 62% year over year. Year-over-year earnings declined due to high catastrophe incidence during the quarter.

Revenue for the quarter stood at $944, down 12% year over year. After-tax investment income upped a modest 1.0% year over year to $98 million. This growth was driven largely by dividend-paying stocks in the investment portfolio, partly mitigated by the current low-interest rate environment.

Hanover: Most of it is here. 10-Q is here. Transcript is here. Media report:

Nov 2 (Reuters) – The Hanover Insurance Group posted narrower-than-expected quarterly loss as more people bought its policies.

For the third quarter, the property and casualty insurer posted loss of $9.7 million, or 21 cents a share, compared with profit of $52.3 million, or $1.15 a share, a year ago.

The company posted an adjusted loss of 41 cents a share, compared with analysts’ expectations of a loss of 45 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net premiums written grew about 31 percent to more than $1 billion.

Hanover’s acquisition of Lloyd’s of London insurer Chaucer added $222.3 million to net premiums written.

Old Republic: Shareholders report (in lieu of press release), 10-Q, webcast, transcript, media report:

Old Republic International Corp.’s (ORI) third-quarter loss unexpectedly widened as the insurer’s troubled mortgage-guaranty business continued to deteriorate in runoff mode.

The company’s overall performance has been uneven lately, hampered by the mortgage-guaranty side. In August, Old Republic stopped selling new coverage in the mortgage-insurance business because waivers expired that previously granted the company that ability. The status, known as runoff, has struck other mortgage insurers as they struggle with losses on the policies they sold leading up to the housing-market crash.

The mortgage-guaranty business’s loss blew out to $237.8 million from $94 million in the latest period. The company said the mortgage-guaranty “claim costs have exacted a greater toll on Old Republic’s overall bottom line.”

Overall, Old Republic posted a loss of $116.5 million, or 46 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $38.9 million, or 16 cents a share. On an operating basis, which excludes investment gains or losses, the company loss widened to 43 cents a share from a 17-cent loss.

Operating revenue increased 15% to $1.13 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a 5-cent loss a share on revenue of $1.14 billion.

International Reinsurers

Munich Re: Press release, report, key figures, media report:

(Reuters) – German group Munich Re (MUVGn.DE) missed expectations for quarterly profit, as Europe’s debt market storm, including more writedowns on Greek bonds, buffeted investment income.

The world’s biggest reinsurer said on Tuesday it still expected to post a full-year profit and aimed to keep its dividend at 6.25 euros.

“Our result was certainly affected by the capital-market and currency turbulence,” chief financial officer Joerg Schneider said.

Third-quarter net profit fell 63 percent to 286 million euros ($393 million) after minorities, compared with a forecast for 525 million forecast in a Reuters poll.

Swiss Re: News release, report, investor presentation, media report:

Swiss Re Ltd., the world’s second- biggest reinsurer, said third-quarter profit more than doubled after fewer claims from natural catastrophes and as property and casualty premiums rose.

Swiss Re gained as much as 7.1 percent in Zurich trading as net income climbed to $1.35 billion, beating the $539 million average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. One- time gains totaled about $700 million, the Zurich-based reinsurer said today, as lower euro-region interest rates boosted the value of its bond holdings.

Hannover Re: It’s all here, except the media report:

(Reuters) – Hannover Re (HNRGn.DE) beat expectations with net profit of 163.2 million euros ($225 million) in the third quarter, after investment income declined by less than expected in the euro debt crisis.

The world’s third-biggest reinsurer had been expected to post quarterly net profit of 134 million euros, the average of 12 estimates in a Reuters poll showed, sharply lower than the 271 million of the year-earlier quarter, when earnings were boosted by a one-off tax gain.

Scor Re: Press release, report, presentation, webcast, media report:

Scor SE (SCR), France’s largest reinsurer, said third-quarter profit rose 70 percent, helped by the mortality-risk business gained through the acquisition of Transamerica Re.

Net income climbed to 188 million euros ($254 million) from 111 million euros a year earlier, the Paris-based company said today in a statement. Gross written premiums rose 15 percent to 2.01 billion euros in the period.

Transatlantic Re: Press release (pdf), 10-Q, webcast, transcript, supplement, media report:

Transatlantic Holdings Inc. says third-quarter net income was down nearly 50 percent due to $71 million in catastrophe losses and $57 million in costs mostly related to the termination of its merger agreement with Allied World Assurance Co. Holdings.

Net income for the third quarter was $68 million compared with $134 million for the 2010 third quarter.

Part of the $57 million in costs is for “strategic review activities,” the New York-based international reinsurer says in a statement.

Transatlantic paid $48 million in termination fees and expense reimbursements to Allied World.

Everest Re: Press release, 10-Q, webcast, transcript, media report:

Everest Re Group Ltd’s profits dropped by almost two-thirds during the third quarter of 2011 after being hit by $119 million in catastrophe losses.

The re/insurer posted a net income $63.1 million or $1.16 per share compared to $174.2 million or $3.11 per share for the same period last year.

But its operating income held up well at $146.7 million or $2.70 per share versus $149.3 million or $2.67 per share over the same time frame.

For first nine months of 2011, the company actually made an operating loss of $42.9 million, or 79 cents per share in contrast to operating income of $260.3 million or $4.50 per share in 2010.

Including net realised capital gains and losses, the net loss was $121.5 million or $2.24 per share for the first nine months of 2011 compared to net income of $308.2 million, or $5.33 per share for the same period last year.

Partner Re: Press release, 10-Q, webcast, transcript, media report:

PartnerRe Ltd.’s (NYSE:PRE) third quarter 2011 operating earnings per share of $2.41 came in modestly higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.99 but significantly lagged behind $3.95 recorded in the year-ago quarter. As a result, operating income substantially plunged 45.5% to $164.5 million from $301.6 million in the prior-year quarter.

XL:  10-Q, financial supplement, webcast, transcript, media report:

HAMILTON, Bermuda—XL Group P.L.C. announced profit of $40.8 million for the first nine months of 2011, compared with $397.4 million for the same period last year.

Hamilton, Bermuda-based XL said Tuesday that profit for the third quarter of 2011 was $42.4 million, compared with $77.5 million for the third quarter of 2010.XL said third-quarter profits decreased largely because of higher natural catastrophe losses and lower levels of positive prior-year loss development.