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Insurer CNA Financial posts profit increase of nearly 21% in first half

Posted On: Jul. 30, 2012 12:00 AM CST

CHICAGO—CNA Financial Corp. posted net income of $416 million for the first half of 2012, a 20.9% increase over the first six months of 2011.

For the half, Chicago-based CNA recorded net written premiums of $3.22 billion, a rise of 2.7% compared with the same period a year ago. The commercial and specialty insurer also posted an improved combined ratio of 101.8%, compared with 104.0% during the same period a year ago.

On a quarterly basis, CNA registered second-quarter net income of $166 million, a rise of 33.9% compared with the same period a year ago. Net written premiums rose 2.82% in the quarter to $1.61 billion, while the company's combined ratio improved to 101.7%, compared with 106.0% combined ratio the company tallied in the second quarter a year ago.

“We are pleased to report continued progress on our strategies to drive margin improvement and growth in our core property/casualty operations,” CNA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Motamed said in a statement. “We achieved meaningful first-half rate increases across our P/C portfolio, which helped drive nearly three points of improvement in our P/C combined ratio excluding catastrophes and prior-year development.”