Liberty Mutual reports a fourth quarter net loss of $234million, primarily driven by $576 million in after-tax losses fromSuperstorm Sandy.

“It's no surprise that our quarterly results were impacted bySuperstorm Sandy, but despite this loss, for the full year weshowed significant improvement in profitability over 2011,” saidPresident and CEO David H. Long, noting the storm produced 100,000claims, about double what Liberty suffered from Hurricane Katrinain 2005.

Net income for the full year increased by 132 percent to $829million.

Long said growth remained healthy for the year as the companytook advantage of profitable opportunities while reducingunprofitable exposures.

Personal-lines auto produced a combined ratio of 99 for theyear, with the company getting rate increases of more than 6percent. Long noted that 2012 was the first time the company soldmore than 1 million new auto policies in the United States.

Turning to homeowners, Long said the line managed rate increasesof up to 10 percent, but added that the insurance industrycontinues to underprice the segment.

“We are managing the business assuming that the new, elevatedlevel of catastrophe and severe storm losses will be with us for awhile,” said Long.

Commercial insurance is showing signs of improvement, he said,but the combined ratio of 106.5 is “far from where we need to be.”While premiums continue to increase, Long said Liberty'sunderwriters are walking away from business if they cannot get therate they feel the business needs.

During a conference call with financial analysts, Long steppedfurther away from his predecessor's plans to present a publicoffering, saying that the entity created in 2010 was no longer inplace.

“We actually moved the pieces around this year, so what wasformally LMAC no longer exists,” said Long.

Former CEO Edmund “Ted” Kelly previously put the brakes on plans to take Liberty Mutual Agency Corp. publicbecause of market unpredictability. In his first conference call with analysts as CEO in 2011, Long saidhe had no plans to take the company public.

When asked to confirm if the company had no plans for a futureIPO, CFO Dennis J. Langwell said, “We don't comment on capitalplans, but it's probably pretty safe to assume now.”