Q4 Financials from Allstate, Prudential and 9 Other Insurers

Aetna, Cigna, The Hartford and Munich Re also among the first to release 2011 figures.

Insurance Networking News, February 9, 2012

Justin Stephani

A number of insurers have released their financial results for Q4 2011 as well as the full year. The following is a compilation of their announcements:

ACE

For the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, 2011, P&C net premiums written and earned increased five percent and seven percent, respectively. For the year, P&C net premiums written and earned increased 12 percent and 14 percent, respectively. For the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, 2011, total company net premiums written and earned increased six percent and seven percent, respectively, and for the year, increased 12 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

For the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, 2011, total pre-tax catastrophe losses including reinstatement premiums were $155 million, of which $117 million was associated with the floods in Thailand, compared with $50 million for the fourth quarter of 2010. The catastrophe losses represent 4.6 percentage points of the combined ratio. For the year, total pre-tax catastrophe losses including reinstatement premiums were $899 million compared with $401 million in 2010.

The P&C combined ratio was 92.9 percent for the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, 2011, compared to 90.3 percent last year. The P&C combined ratio for the year was 94.6 percent, compared with 90.2 percent in 2010. P&C underwriting income was $240 million compared with $310 million in 2010. For the year, P&C underwriting income was $731 million compared with $1.2 billion in 2010.

Net investment income for the quarter increased 6 percent to $565 million due to higher invested assets and higher distributions from private equity funds, partially offset by lower new money rates.

Aetna

Aetna announced fourth-quarter 2011 operating earnings of $354.3 million, or $.97 per share, a per share increase of 54 percent over 2010. Full-year 2011 operating earnings for Aetna were $1.97 billion, or $5.17 per share, which represents a per share increase of 40 percent over 2010. Net income for the fourth quarter was $372.6 million, or $1.02 per share, including $.05 per share of net realized capital gains. Full-year net income was $1.99 billion, or $5.22 per share, a per share increase of 25 percent over 2010.

Net Income was $372.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2011 compared with $215.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2010. For full-year 2011, net income increased 12 percent to $1.99 billion, compared to $1.77 billion in 2010.

Total company revenues for the fourth quarter of 2011 were $8.54 billion, compared with $8.51 billion for the fourth quarter of 2010. For full-year 2011, revenues were $33.61 billion compared with $34.02 billion for 2010.

Operating Expenses were $1.83 billion for the fourth quarter of 2011. The operating expense ratio was 21.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 and 21.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010. Including net realized capital gains and other items, these ratios were 21.4 percent and 22.1 percent for the fourth quarters of 2011 and 2010, respectively.

For full-year 2011, the operating expense ratio increased to 19.8 percent from 19.3 percent in 2010 primarily reflecting the addition of fee-based businesses with operating expenses higher than the company average. Including net realized capital gains and other items, these ratios were 20.1 percent and 19.0 percent for the full years 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Allstate

Net income for 2011 was $788 million, or $1.51 per diluted share, compared to $928 million in 2010. The decrease was primarily due to lower Property-Liability operating income partially offset by capital gains realized in 2011 versus capital losses realized in 2010 and an increase in Allstate Financial operating income. Total operating income was $689 million, or $1.32 per share, compared to $1.5 billion, or $2.84 per diluted share in 2010. The decline in operating income was driven by a substantial increase in catastrophe losses experienced in 2011 compared to 2010.

For the fourth quarter of 2011, net income was $724 million, or $1.43 per diluted share, an improvement of $428 million, or $0.88 per diluted share, from the prior year’s fourth quarter.

The recorded combined ratio for the 2011 fourth quarter was 90.7 compared to 100.8 in the prior year period. During the quarter we had $66 million of catastrophe losses, including 19 catastrophe events estimated to cost $216 million, that were substantially offset by favorable reserve re-estimates of $150 million, $118 million of which related to prior 2011 events. In the fourth quarter of 2010 we recorded $537 million in catastrophe losses.

AXIS

For the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, 2011, gross premiums written increased 5 percent to $667 million and 9 percent for the year to $4.1 billion. Net premiums earned increased 12 percent in the quarter to $847 million and 12 percent for the year to $3.3 billion. Combined ratios of 100.5 percent and 112.3 percent for the quarter and year, respectively, compared to 85.6 percent and 88.7 percent in 2010.

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