Travelers Q1 Profit Down, Misses View; Lifts Dividend; To Buy Back $5 Bln Shares

(RTTNews) - Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV) reported Thursday that its first-quarter net income was $617 million, down 11 percent from last year's $691 million. Earnings per share dropped 6 percent to $2.17 from $2.30 last year.

Core income in the current quarter was $614 million or $2.16 per share, compared to $698 million or $2.33 per share in the prior year quarter.

Net and core income were impacted by significant catastrophe losses of $226 million, compared to $207 million last year.

Total revenues increased 4 percent to $6.94 billion from last year's $6.69 billion. Net written premiums grew 5 percent to $6.50 billion from $6.17 billion a year ago.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $2.35 per share for the quarter on revenues of $6.32 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Further, the company said its Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, an increase of 7.5%. This dividend is payable on June 30, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 9.

The Board also authorized an additional $5.0 billion of share repurchases. This amount is in addition to the $709 million that remained from previous authorizations as of March 31.