Chubb Corp., the insurer of corporate boards and mega-yachts, said quarterly profit rose 9.8 percent in the company’s first increase of the year as premium revenue increased.
Third-quarter net income advanced to $594 million, or $2.47 a share, from $541 million, or $2.10, a year earlier, the Warren, New Jersey-based company said today in a statement. Operating profit, which excludes some investment results, was $2.17, beating the average estimate of $1.95 in a Bloomberg survey of 20 analysts.
Chubb benefited from a calm hurricane season in the Atlantic. There were an estimated $1.5 billion of industrywide insured catastrophe losses in the U.S. during the third quarter, compared with $1.9 billion a year earlier, according to Steve Bowen, a meteorologist at broker Aon Benfield.
“We’re looking at a quarter where the weather was very good.” Cliff Gallant, an analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc., said in an interview before the results were released. “There were no hurricanes, no major storm losses.”
Travelers Cos., the lone property-and-casualty insurer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, reported Oct. 21 that profit climbed 6.4 percent on investment results and lower claims from natural disasters.
Chubb, led by Chief Executive Officer John Finnegan, 65, climbed 11 cents to $94.26 as of 4:01 p.m. in New York. It has fallen about 2.5 percent this year. Results were released after the close of regular trading.
The insurer in 2013 extended Finnegan’s term by two years until the end of 2016, waiving a policy that set 65 as the retirement age. The board cited a “high level of satisfaction” with the way he was running the company.