By Aisha Al-Muslim 

Travelers Cos.' earnings rose in the latest quarter as the insurance company reported lower catastrophe losses and higher net investment income.

The New York-based company said Tuesday second-quarter profit was $557 million, or $2.10 a share, compared with $524 million, or $1.92 a share, a year earlier.

Total revenue, which includes investment income, rose to $7.83 billion from $7.48 billion.

Travelers, part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, is among the largest sellers of insurance to U.S. businesses and sells car and home insurance to individuals and families. It is one of the first big property-casualty insurers to report quarterly earnings, and its results are watched closely as a bellwether for others.

Core income was $537 million, or $2.02 a share, missing the $2.28 a share analysts polled by FactSet were looking for. In the year-earlier period, core income was $494 million, or $1.81 a share.

Core earnings are a closely watched metric because they exclude realized capital gains or losses on companies' investment portfolios as well as items that aren't considered recurring in nature.

Shares, which have gained about 21% over the past 12 months, fell 1.1% in premarket trading.

Pretax catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, totaled $367 million during the quarter, compared with $488 million a year earlier.

"While catastrophe losses were lower than in the prior year quarter, all-in weather losses were modestly higher, due to higher non-catastrophe weather-related losses," Chief Executive Alan Schnitzer said.

Net premiums written, an important measure of revenue growth, rose 4% to $7.45 billion, ahead of the consensus forecast of $7.41 billion.

Write to Aisha Al-Muslim at aisha.al-muslim@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 23, 2019 08:36 ET (12:36 GMT)

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