Investment losses, Hurricane Ike affect Chubb’s 2008 Q3 results

The Chubb Corporation [NYSE: CB] has reported a 2008 Q3 profit of US$264 million, down from its 2007 Q3 net income of US$738 million.
The third-quarter drop in net income reflects net realized investment losses, including impairments, of US$113 million before tax, the company noted in a press release.
By way of comparison, the company’s 2007 Q3 net income included net realized investment gains of US$117 million before tax.
Total net written premiums for the third quarter decreased 1% to US$2.9 billion, the company reported. Premiums were down 4% in the United States and up 8% outside the United States. (4% in local currencies).
The company’s 2008 Q3 combined loss and expense ratio was 98.1% in 2008, compared to 81.6% in 2007.
The impact of catastrophes in the third quarter of 2008 accounted for 13.6 percentage points of the combined ratio, Chubb observed, and was principally related to Hurricane Ike, including Chubb’s estimated share of the assessment from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. In 2008 Q3, the impact of catastrophes accounted for 2.0 points.
Excluding catastrophe losses, the 2008 Q3 combined ratio was 84.5% in 2008 and 79.6% in 2007.
“Obviously, losses from Hurricane Ike had a major adverse effect on our third quarter results,” said John D. Finnegan, chairman, president and CEO of Chubb. “However, despite these substantial catastrophe losses, we were still able to generate over [US]$300 million in operating income, reflecting the continuing underlying strength of all our business units in a challenging environment.
“In addition, we were especially pleased with the performance of our high-quality investment portfolio in a period of unprecedented financial market turmoil.”