Dow Jones Newswires | Loews Corp. and its CNA Financial Corp. insurance unit returned to the
black in the fourth quarter as they avoided the prior year’s investment
losses and write-downs.

Insurers were pummeled as 2008 came to an end as the equity and other
markets swooned amid the darkest days of the financial crisis. But many
in the sector have reported sharply improved results in the fourth
quarter amid the absence of such losses.

Loews, a conglomerate led by New York’s Tisch family, posted a profit of $403 million, or 94 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $958 million, or $2.20 a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters recently expected 95 cents.

Revenue increased 39 percent to $3.82 billion. Loews holds a 90 percent stake in CNA, its largest holding, and the insurer usually accounts for nearly two-thirds of its revenue.

CNA reported a profit of $246 million, or 81 cents a share, compared with a prior-year loss of $336 million, or $1.31 a share. The latest period included $49 million in investment gains, while the prior year included $314 million in such losses. Excluding investment gains, the latest quarter’s profit was 73 cents, matching analysts’ expectations.

Property-and-casualty net written premiums fell 6.1 percent to $1.5 billion. The combined ratio, percentage of premiums paid in claims rose to 90.3 percent from 89.1 percent a year earlier.

Loews is also majority owner of Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc., which last week reported that its fourth-quarter earnings unexpectedly fell 5.9 percent amid higher tax expense, though revenue and utilization rates were down slightly. Another unit, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP reported a 6 percent increase in earnings earlier Monday.

Loews’ shares closed Friday at $35.37, while CNA’s finished at $23.58. Neither has traded premarket