Travelers Tops Q3 Expectations

reported stronger-than-expected results for the third quarter on Tuesday. The New York-based company reported a quarterly profit of $928 million, or $2.97 per share, compared to $919 million, or $2.69 per share, in the year-ago period. Its operating earnings surged to $2.93 per share from $2.61 per share. Its revenue dropped 1.3 percent to $6.79 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $2.26 per share on revenue of $6.11 billion. Its net investment income declined 15 percent to $614 million, while net written premiums increased 2.6 percent to $6.19 billion. The company's board approved a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share. Travelers repurchased 7.3 million shares during the quarter at a total cost of $750 million. Its return on equity was 15.4 percent for the quarter, while operating return on equity came in at 16.2 percent. "We are very pleased to report third quarter operating income of $918 million and operating return on equity of 16.2%," commented Jay Fishman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "At 86.9%, our combined ratio reflected very strong performance across all of our business segments. Our investment portfolio continued to deliver solid returns in the continuing low interest rate environment. We also returned $939 million in capital to shareholders in the quarter, including $750 million in share repurchases, bringing the total capital returned to shareholders year to date to over $2.7 billion. Travelers shares rose 0.47 percent to close at $106.40 yesterday.