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(AP) - Commercial and personal property insurer
Travelers Cos. said Tuesday that lower investment income drove
fourth-quarter profit down 25 percent.

      The St. Paul, Minn.-based company said net income tumbled to
$801 million, or $1.35 per share, from $1.06 billion, or $1.64 per
share, a year ago.

      Excluding items, operating profit totaled $1.58 cents per share
- beating analysts' average estimate of $1.46 per share, according
to Thomson Reuters.

      The lower profit reflected a 37 percent drop in investment
income during the quarter to $438 million, from $696 million, a
year ago. 

The company's non-fixed income portfolio, mainly
comprised of private-equity funds, real-estate partnerships and
hedge funds, recorded an investment loss of $164 million.

      However, earnings did get a boost from $189 million in reserves
that Travelers was able to release because claims for prior-year
periods were lower than expected.

      Net premiums increased slightly to $5.39 billion during the
quarter from $5.37 billion a year ago, and net earned premiums
remained unchanged at $5.43 billion.

      The company's combined ratio for the quarter rose 2.5 points to
85.9 percent. Combined ratio measures the amount of money insurers
pay out in claims and expenses compared with how much they receive
from writing new business. 


A ratio above 100 means the insurer pays
out more in claims and expenses than it takes in from writing new
premiums.

      The insurer also projected 2009 earnings well below analysts'
estimates, seeing profit excluding investment losses of $4.50 to
$4.90 per share. Analysts estimate $5.59 per share.

      For the year, Travelers earned $2.92 billion, or $4.82 per
share, down from $4.6 billion, or $6.86 per share, a year ago.
Excluding items, operating profit totaled $5.27 per share.

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Commercial and personal property insurer
Travelers Cos. said Tuesday that lower investment income drove
fourth-quarter profit down 25 percent.

Travelers 4Q profit falls 25 percent

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