CNA Financial Corp. saw its second quarter net income climb at a robust clip, and catastrophe losses along with its combined ratio shrink down to a healthier level. Chairman and CEO Dino Robusto said the results were better than the property/casualty insurer has seen in quite some time.

“Improvement in both our underlying loss ratio and expense ratio created one of our best underwriting quarters in the past decade,” Robusto said in prepared remarks.

Net income reached $272 million for the 2017 second quarter, or $1 per share. That compares to $209 million and $0.77 per share over the same period a year ago. CNA’s property/casualty combined ratio was 93.5 for Q2, versus 97.4 in the 2016 second quarter; the commercial insurance combined ratio came in at 95.1, down from 103.5 over the same, year-ago period.

Investors rewarded the results by driving CNA’s stock price up to $51.93 by the end of trading on July 31, up 5.25 percent.

Not everything trended favorably, however. CNA said its net after tax investment income was $344 million for the 2017 second quarter, down from $362 million in the 2016 second quarter The insurer blamed the decrease on limited partnership investments with declining returns. Also, its specialty insurance combined ratio climbed to just under 90, versus 85.4 in the same period last year.

Here’s a rundown of CNA’s Q2 results:

• P/C net written premiums surpassed $1.7 billion, compared to more than $1.6 billion in the 2016 second quarter.
• Property/casualty catastrophe losses were $24 million, after tax, versus $58 million in the prior year quarter,
• Specialty insurance net written premiums were $716 million, compared to $691 million in the same, year-ago quarter. CNA said the premium increase was driven in part by a slight renewal premium increase as well as strong retention. New business was also “modestly higher and broad-based,” CNA said.
• Commercial insurance net written premiums reached $767 million, versus $740 million in Q2 2016. More new business within Middle Markets helped drive the increase, though retention dipped to 82 percent.
• International net written premiums were $219 million, versus $194 million in the 2016 second quarter. While the combined ratio was 100.1, it is an improvement over the 118.6 figure from the 2016 second quarter. New business was higher, along with a steady hike in renewal premiums and improved retention.

Source: CNA