The Hartford Financial Services Group reported a 9 percent rise in net income for the third quarter, beating analysts' expectations.
The Hartford, Conn.-based company reported $539 million in net income in the latest quarter, up from $494 million in the third quarter of 2004.
For the nine months ending Sept. 30, the company reported $1.8 billion in net income, up from $1.5 billion for the same period in 2004.
Bank of America securities analyst Brian Meredith said the $1.82 per share profit beat the analysts' consensus of $1.60, while the property-casualty earnings came in at $232 million, up from $13 million in the third quarter of 2004.
The company recorded hurricane losses of $130 million in the quarter, which Mr. Meredith noted was consistent with company forecasts.
The company also reported that the combined ratio before catastrophes in ongoing operations was 91.7, which was an improvement of 1.6 points compared to a year ago.
Hartford CEO Ramani Ayer said that while the company achieved double-digit net written premium growth in the small commercial business line, there was a decline in the same factor for specialty property insurance due to disciplined underwriting.
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