Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc. and its subsidiaries today reported net income of $496 million for its 2013 fourth quarter, improving from a net loss of $234 million during the prior-year fourth quarter. The insurer benefited from stronger revenues and premiums as well as lower catastrophe losses.
The 2013 full-year net income was reported as $1.743 billion, a 110 percent increase compared to $829 million income during full-year 2012.
“2013 operating results showed marked improvement as we continued to grow selectively and improve underwriting profitability,” said David H. Long, Chairman and CEO of Liberty Mutual Insurance. “Our personal lines business grew 11 percent, among the highest in the industry, while our commercial business focused on reducing exposures in certain lines and strengthening underwriting across the board. Overall, net written premium grew 6.7 percent and net income increased to $1.7 billion.”
“We have excellent momentum heading into 2014 and our focus on profitable growth remains unchanged,” Long said.
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Revenues for the 2013 fourth quarter were $9.983 billion, an increase of $518 million or 5.5 percent over the same period in 2012. Revenues for the full-year 2013 were $38.509 billion, an increase of $2.184 billion or 6.0 percent compared to full-year 2012.
Net written premium for the 2013 fourth quarter was $8.787 billion, an increase of $440 million or 5.3 percent from the prior-year fourth quarter. Net written premium for the full-year 2013 was $35.224 billion, an increase of $2.211 billion or 6.7 percent from full-year 2012.
The company’s 2013 fourth-quarter consolidated combined ratio, including the impact of catastrophes, net incurred losses attributable to prior years and current accident year re-estimation, was 100.4 percent, a decrease of 12.5 points. The 2013 fourth-quarter consolidated combined ratio before these items was 96.3 percent, a decrease of 0.7 points from a year ago. The catastrophe losses during the 2013 fourth quarter were $102 million, compared to catastrophe losses of $855 million during the 2012 fourth quarter which were driven primarily by Superstorm Sandy losses.
For the full-year 2013, the consolidated combined ratio, including the impact of catastrophes and net incurred losses attributable to prior years, was 99.8 percent, a decrease of 5.0 points. The full-year consolidated combined ratio before these items was 95.4 percent, a decrease of 1.6 points from full-year 2012. The catastrophe losses during full-year 2013 were $1.262 billion, compared to $2.067 billion during full-year 2012.