Liberty Mutual recovers in quarterly earnings

Liberty Mutual recovers in quarterly earnings | Insurance Business New Zealand

Insurance News

Liberty Mutual recovers in quarterly earnings

Group continues turnaround after suffering losses

Insurance News

By
Terry Gangcuangco

Liberty Mutual Insurance (formally Liberty Mutual Holding Company and its subsidiaries, or LMHC collectively) continues to recover from its 2023 losses, announcing another quarter of a major turnaround.

In the first quarter of 2024, the company saw its net income attributable to LMHC surge to US$1.535 billion following last year’s US$74 million loss in the corresponding three-month period.

This time around, Liberty Mutual’s new earnings report shows a similar story, with net income attributable to LMHC amounting to US$717 million in the second quarter – a huge jump from the net loss attributable to LMHC of US$585 million in the same span in 2023.

In the six months ended June 30, the insurance group’s net income attributable to LMHC reached US$2.252 billion, up from the US$660 million loss it suffered last year.

“Our underlying combined ratio improved 9.5 points from the prior year to 84.0%. Of that, 7.1 points of improvement resulted from our targeted underwriting strategies improving both personal and commercial lines. In addition, our ongoing expense management program contributed 2.4 points of expense ratio improvement, driving it down to 26.4% for the second quarter and half year.

“Catastrophe losses in the quarter remained elevated, despite improving over prior year, attributable primarily to severe convective storm activity in the US Midwest. Including catastrophes and prior-year development, the total combined ratio was 99.6% for the quarter, a 9.8-point improvement over prior year.

“In addition, investment results in the quarter were strong, benefiting from higher reinvestment rates and favourable private equity valuations, which contributed to US$1.3 billion of net investment income.”

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