Hartford profit up 35% in second quarter

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $733 million, up 35% from the year-earlier period.

“These results reflect the effectiveness of our strategy and ongoing investments,” Chairman and CEO Christopher Swift said during an earnings call Friday. “We remain focused on disciplined underwriting and pricing execution, expanding product and distribution breadth, developing exceptional talent and delivering a superior customer experience.”

Commercial lines core earnings of $551 million represented a 12% increase over the year-earlier period. The results include reserve reductions in workers compensation, catastrophes and bond, partially offset by reserve increases in general liability, assumed reinsurance and auto liability, the insurer said in its earnings statement released Thursday after markets closed.

Property/casualty written premiums climbed 12%, driven by commercial lines and personal lines premium growth of 11% and 14%, respectively.

The commercial lines combined ratio stood at 89.8% in the second quarter, an improvement from 91.2% in the year-earlier period.

Current accident year catastrophe losses of $155 million, before tax, in the second quarter came primarily from tornado, wind and hail events across several regions of the United States but concentrated in the South and Midwest. That compared with catastrophe losses of $123 million during the same period last year.

Hartford Chief Financial Officer Beth Costello noted the insurer’s continuing stock repurchasing activity has contributed to its stability. The company’s board of directors on Thursday approved a new share repurchase authorization of $3.3 billion.