Catastrophe! Travelers Profit Falls

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Travelers(TRV) posted below-consensus first-quarter earnings in what was an unusually significant catastrophe quarter for Travelers as well as for the entire industry.

However, Travelers reaffirms its full-year 2010 operating income to be in the range of $5.20 to $5.55 a share, compared with the consensus estimate of $5.74, which includes the reported results for the first quarter 2010 and estimates for the remainder of 2010 based on a number of assumptions, including pretax and after-tax catastrophe losses.

Travelers reported first-quarter net income of $647 million, or $1.25 a share, down from $662 million, or $1.11 a share, the same period last year. Catastrophe losses amounted to $312 million after taxes, or 61 cents a share, compared with $54 million, or 9 cents a share, in the prior year.

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Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $1.36 a share.

Travelers said first-quarter net written premiums were $5.25 billion, up 1%.

Shares of Travelers are down in Friday trading, changing hands at $52.90, or a loss of 1.7% from their Thursday close.

-- Reported by Andrea Tse in New York

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