Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

U.S. property/casualty insurers' net income up 58% in second quarter

Reprints

Lower catastrophe losses helped drive U.S. property/casualty insurance companies’ net income to rise 58% in the second quarter compared with the same period in 2012, according to an analysis released by Moody’s Investors Service on Thursday.

“Underlying combined ratios continued to improve with continued earned rate increases outpacing relatively benign loss cost trends,” said Moody’s in its report, “US P&C Insurers Generated Strong Earnings in Q2 2013; The Pace of Rate Improvement Slows Slightly in Certain Lines.”

Moody’s said investment income for the group of property/casualty companies it rates grew by 3% year-over-year, while reserve releases were down slightly, although “still providing meaningful earnings support.”

“The rate environment largely remained stable with most companies still reporting healthy rate increases across all business lines,” said Moody’s. It noted that some insurers are reporting a slight slowdown in the pace of ratings increases, notably in commercial property and large account business.

Moody’s said it expects commercial lines’ rate momentum to remain positive. It said it is not expecting significant changes during the rest of the year because among other things, interest rates remain low despite increases in the second quarter; catastrophe volatility remains elevated; and the level of reserve releases is expected to continue to slow. “However, the sector’s prospects for meaningfully enhanced earnings generation is limited as plentiful capacity will continue to dampen the upwards trajectory of rates,” said Moody’s.