Auto and home insurer Allstate says its net income fell sharply in the fourth quarter as an Arizona hailstorm caused it to pay out far more in catastrophe losses.
In the final three months of last year, the company earned $296 million, or 55 cents per share. That’s down from $518 million, or 96 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Not including one-time items, the company’s operating income was $271 million, or 50 cents per share. By that measure, analysts on average expected a profit of 91 cents per share, according to FactSet.
Catastrophe losses surged to $537 million in the latest quarter, up from $328 million last year. Allstate said the spike was largely the result of the Arizona hailstorm.
I wonder how much the bad press from their new zodiac claims press release where they showed Virgo’s were the worst drivers will impact their results for this quarter?
-Mark
You can read more about the failed press release here:
http://www.New-Zodiac.com/insurance/