Liberty Mutual Holding Company has reported net income of $721 million for the third quarter of 2021, a figure that is 81.6% higher than was recorded in the same period last year.
Looking at the first nine months of the year, net income totaled $2.35 billion, versus just $596 million for the 9M period last year.
Results for the nine-month period last year were impacted by $565 million of loss related to COVID-19, whereas Liberty has reported no losses of this kind so far in 2021.
But catastrophe losses have been substantially higher this year, at $1.21 billion for Q3 and $2.91 billion for 9M, compared with $980 million and $2.16 billion for the respective periods last year.
Liberty noted that losses from Hurricane Ida alone amounted to $812 million, pre tax.
This meant combined ratio did deteriorate slightly from 103.6% to 104.4% for the quarter, while moving from 101.8% to 101.3% for the nine months.
“Despite an elevated level of catastrophe losses, net income attributable to LMHC for the quarter improved to $721 million, up 81.6% from the prior year,” said David H. Long, Liberty Mutual Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
“We continue to experience extraordinary returns in our partnerships, LLC and other equity method investment portfolio which generated $1.0 billion of pre-tax net investment income, up from $467 million, primarily driven by private capital investments,” Long continued.
“Topline growth was strong across both of our businesses as net written premium increased 6.5%. Global Retail Markets premium in the quarter grew 5.4% over the same period in 2020, driven by U.S. personal lines where personal auto and homeowners policies in force increased 5.9% and 6.5%, respectively.
“Global Risk Solutions premium grew 11.3% driven by a combination of rate increases and exposure growth. Core underwriting results in this segment continued to improve, with a 6.5 point decrease in the core loss ratio to 61.1% for the third quarter driven by rate execution, improved risk selection, and lower large loss activity.”
