Liberty Mutual net income rebounds in 1Q

Liberty Mutual Holding Co. Inc. on Wednesday reported first-quarter net income of $403 million, a 48.2% increase over the first quarter of last year.

In the 2015 period, the insurer's net income was dragged down by discontinued operations in Venezuela, it said in a statement.

First-quarter revenue was $9.36 billion, an increase of 1% over the prior-year quarter.

Net written premiums of $8.77 billion increased 0.5% from first-quarter 2015 net written premiums that were restated due to the discontinued Venezuelan operations, a Liberty Mutual spokesman said.

The mutual insurer's combined ratio improved to 96.3% during the first quarter of 2016 from 97.1% during the first quarter last year.

Catastrophe losses for the quarter reached $550 million, a 10.9% increase over the same period in 2015, due largely to severe storms in the United States and Cyclone Winston, which hit Fiji in February.