Chubb Limited reported $705 million in pretax catastrophe losses for the third quarter, up from $285 million a year earlier. Core operating income fell 2.2% to $2.98 billion, while a lower share count helped lift the per-share figure to a record $7.66.
Pretax net catastrophe losses totaled $705 million, compared with $285 million in the year-earlier quarter. Favorable development on reserves from prior periods also increased, reaching $511 million from $361 million. Property and casualty (P&C) underwriting income declined 8.8% to $2.06 billion, and the combined ratio rose to 84.1% from 81.8%.
On a current accident-year basis, excluding catastrophe losses and prior-period reserve development, P&C underwriting income increased 3.3% to $2.26 billion. The combined ratio for that measure was 82.6%, compared with 82.5% a year earlier.
Consolidated net premiums written rose 1.9% to $15.14 billion, including $13.18 billion from P&C and $1.96 billion from life insurance. North America commercial net premiums written fell 2.7%, while overseas general insurance net premiums written gained 6.7%. Chubb Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Evan G. Greenberg said the company had reduced exposure in some property and financial lines as pricing and terms became more competitive.
Net income increased 1.5% to $2.84 billion, or $7.30 per diluted share. Chubb repurchased $1.18 billion in shares during the quarter, and its weighted average diluted share count was 389.4 million, down from 400.9 million a year earlier. After changing its definition of core operating income, the company restated the prior-year per-share comparison to $7.60; the original 2025 release reported $7.49.
For the nine months through Sept. 30, net income set a record of $8.02 billion, up 12.9%, while core operating income reached a record $8.60 billion, up 21%. Annualized return on equity was 14.5% and core operating return on equity was 14.6% for that period. Chubb scheduled an earnings call for 8:30 a.m. ET on Oct. 21.
