(Reuters) – U.S. insurer Travelers Cos Inc posted a record operating profit that breezed past Wall Street estimates and said it expects to keep raising premiums to counter low interest rates and potential losses from natural disasters.
Travelers, which also announced a $5 billion share buyback plan on Tuesday, took the lead in raising prices as the industry struggled with low interest rates that squeezed interest incomes.
“We intend to stay the course on this strategy as our expectations of more volatile weather patterns and continued low interest rates have not changed,” Chief Executive Jay Fishman said in a statement.
Travelers expects interest rates to remain at historically low levels at least until 2016, a company executive said on a post-earnings conference call.
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