Travelers reports huge turnaround | Insurance Business America
Chief executive lifts the lid on improved financials
Insurance company Travelers has published its interim financial results, revealing a major turnaround in the second quarter.
Here’s how the insurer performed in the three months and six months ended June 30, 2024:
Metric |
Q2 2024 |
Q2 2023 |
H1 2024 |
H1 2023 |
Net written premiums |
$11.12 billion |
$10.32 billion |
$21.30 billion |
$19.71 billion |
Total revenues |
$11.28 billion |
$10.10 billion |
$22.51 billion |
$19.80 billion |
Net income (loss) |
$534 million |
$(14 million) |
$1.66 billion |
$961 million |
Core income |
$585 million |
$15 million |
$1.68 billion |
$985 million |
Combined ratio |
100.2% |
106.5% |
97.1% |
101.1% |
Lifting the lid on the numbers, Travelers chair and chief executive Alan Schnitzer stated: “We are pleased to have generated a strong bottom line result in a quarter that included a record level of severe convective storms across the United States.
“Core income of $585 million, or $2.51 per diluted share, benefited from excellent underlying results, favorable net prior year reserve development, and higher investment income.
“Underlying underwriting income of $1.2 billion pre-tax was up 55% over the prior year quarter, driven by record net earned premiums of $10.2 billion and a consolidated underlying combined ratio that improved 3.4 points to an excellent 87.7%.
“Net earned premiums were higher in all three of our business segments. The underlying combined ratio in our business insurance segment was an excellent 89.2%; the underlying combined ratio in our bond & specialty insurance business improved 1.7 points to a very strong 86.1%; and the underlying combined ratio in personal insurance improved by nearly eight points to a terrific 86.3%.”
The firm’s net written premiums for business insurance grew by 7%; for bond & specialty insurance, 8%; and for personal insurance, 9%.
Investments-wise, the company’s portfolio generated after-tax net investment income of $727 million, thanks to what Schnitzer described as “strong and reliable returns” from Travelers’ growing fixed income portfolio as well as higher returns from its non-fixed income portfolio.
The CEO highlighted that Travelers returned $498 million of excess capital to its shareholders in the quarter, including share repurchases worth $253 million.
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