NU Online News Service, Feb. 7, 1:40 p.m. EST
CNA Financial Corp. reported a 2010 fourth quarter net income of $302 million, up 22.8 percent over the 2009 first quarter.
Chicago-based specialty and commercial insurer CNA said net operating income increased $50 million for its core property and casualty operations in the quarter due primarily to higher net investment income. Net operating results for non-core segments improved $79 million due to decreased unfavorable net prior year development, the company said.
For the year, CNA said net income was $690 million, up from $419 million in 2009. Net operating income was up in 2010 due to favorable prior year development despite decreased current accident year underwriting results. The year's losses included $79 million in catastrophe losses, up from $58 million in 2009.
CNA reported fourth quarter net realized investment losses of $24 million, compared to net realized gains of $49 million in the 2009 fourth quarter. But for the year, investment gains totaled $51 million compared to losses of $561 million in 2009.
Gross written premiums were slightly down in the fourth quarter to $1.89 billion compared to $1.9 billion in 2009 fourth quarter. Written premiums were up by $27 million for specialty operations and down $39 million for commercial operations. For the year, gross written premiums were down to $7.7 billion compared to $8 billion in 2009.
The 2010 fourth quarter combined ratio was 89.6, compared to 92.1 for the same period in 2009. For the year, the combined ratio improved to 94.8 from 97.4 in 2009.
CNA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas F. Motamed said, "We are encouraged by our fourth quarter and full year results. Our specialty segment continues to deliver superior results in an extremely competitive environment. We continue to be optimistic about the long term prospects of our commercial segment, which has delivered five consecutive quarters of rate increases, as well as an improving production trend, risk selection and price differentiation."
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