Chubb Ltd (NYSE:CB) stock fell 2.32% (As on April 23, 11:26:21 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company reported a 38% fall in first-quarter profit, as catastrophe losses from the California wildfires weighed on its underwriting performance and investment returns. A series of wildfires in California earlier this year claimed several lives and caused estimated economic damage as high as $250 billion. The Zurich-based insurer’s pre-tax catastrophe loss almost quadrupled to $1.64 billion, with around $1.47 billion stemming from the California wildfires. Chubb’s Global P&C net premiums written, which excludes Agriculture, were up 3% to $10.65 billion for the three months ended March 31. In March, the company announced an agreement to acquire Liberty Mutual’s insurance businesses in Thailand and Vietnam, representing around $275 million in combined net premiums written in 2024. The insurer’s net investment income surged 12.2% to $1.56 billion for the quarter ended March 31. The company also reported $302 million in foreign currency gains. Chubb reported a combined ratio of 95.7%, compared to 86% a year earlier. A ratio below 100% shows that an insurer earned more in premiums than it paid out in claims. Net income and core operating income were $1.33 billion and $1.49 billion, respectively, versus $2.14 billion and $2.16 billion last year.

Moreover, Life Insurance net premiums written were $1.72 billion, up 5.3%, or 10.3% in constant dollars, and segment income was $291 million, up 8.6%, or 15.7% in constant dollars. Annualized return on equity (ROE) was 8.2%. Annualized core operating return on tangible equity (ROTE) was 13.0% and annualized core operating ROE was 8.6%. Book value per share and tangible book value per share increased 2.7% and 3.9%, respectively, from December 31, 2024 and now stand at $164.01 and $104.27.

Meanwhile, Premiums were also impacted by two one-time items in the North America business: reinstatement premiums related to the wildfires in personal insurance, and larger-than- usual, one-off structured transactions written last year in our Major Accounts division. Adjusting for both, which is a better representation of our run-rate growth, North America was up 6.4%, including growth of 10.1% in personal insurance and 5.3% in commercial, with P&C lines up 6.4% and financial lines down 1.3%

CB in the first quarter of FY25 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $3.68, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $3.19, according to analysts polled by FactSet. Net premiums written by the insurer for the quarter ended March 31 was $12.65 billion, up from $12.22 billion a year earlier, missing the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $12.94 billion.