Allstate’s Q3 Profit Falls 55% (ALL)

Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL), the Northbrook, Illinois-based holding company of Allstate Insurance Company, reported a 55% drop in third-quarter earnings, primarily due to substantial catastrophe losses. However, the decline in the company’s core profit was less than expected, pushing shares higher in after-hours trading.

At last check, Allstate Corporation shares were trading 3.61% higher at $27.29. The stock fell 3.02% to $26.34 in regular trading today.

Thomas J. Wilson, Chairman, President and CEO of Allstate, said that maintain auto insurance profitability and proactively managing the investment portfolio enabled the company to overcome an increase of $691 million in catastrophe losses from the third quarter of 2011 and still earn a profit.

Wilson also said that Allstate Financial’s results were solid and investment results were also strong in the quarter.

For the third quarter of 2011, the company’s Property-Liability combined ratio was 104.8. During the third quarter, the company experienced 23 catastrophe loss events, which included the Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

For the third quarter ended September 30, 2011, Allstate reported consolidated revenue of $8.24 billion, compared with $7.90 billion reported for the same period in the previous year. The company’s net income for the third quarter was $165 million, down from $367 million reported for the same period in the previous year.

Allstate reported 0.6% decline in premiums written in the third quarter to $6.73 billion. Analysts were expecting the company to report premiums written of $6.75 billion.

The company’s brand standard premiums written fell 0.8% on a year-over-year basis as increased average premiums were offset by lower policies in force. Meanwhile, its brand homeowners premiums written increased 1.5% on a year-over-year basis, primarily due to a 5% increase in average gross premium, which was partly offset by a 4.2% drop in policies in force.

Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.