Hartford reports 30% profit increase for Q4

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. on Thursday posted fourth-quarter net income of $766 million, a 30% increase over the prior-year quarter, driven by strong investment performance and improved results in various lines of business.

The earnings capped “another outstanding year of financial performance and achievement of our strategic objectives,” Chairman and CEO Christopher Swift said on a conference call with analysts Friday.

Commercial lines generated net income of $687 for the quarter, a 21% increase over the prior-year quarter, which Mr. Swift said represented the “third straight year of double-digit, top-line growth in underlying margin expansion.”

Property/casualty written premiums in the fourth quarter rose 10% from the prior-year quarter, largely driven by growth in both commercial and personal lines.

Commercial lines combined ratio in the quarter was 84.7%, an improvement over the 89% combined ratio posted during the prior-year quarter.

Catastrophe losses of $60 million for the quarter, which were largely due to tornado, wind and hail events across several U.S. regions, were down from $114 million in the 2022 fourth quarter.

Overall net investment income for the business was $653 million compared with $640 million in the prior-year quarter, driven by higher fixed-income portfolio yields and partly offset by an $87 million decrease in limited partnership and other alternative investment income.

“Our diversified investment portfolio performed strong results,” said Chief Financial Officer Beth Costello.

Fourth-quarter core earnings for the business were $935 million compared with $749 million in the prior-year quarter, partly attributed to improved property and casualty and group benefits expense ratios and net favorable prior accident year development.  

Full-year 2023 net income was $2.5 billion, a 38% increase over the prior year and full-year core earnings were $2.8 billion compared with $2.5 billion in the prior year.