Loews Corp. (L), the parent company of insurer CNA Financial Corp. (CNA) and drilling rigs operator Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (DO), reported Monday significantly higher profit in its third quarter, reflecting improved revenues and lower investment losses at CNA. On an attributable basis, the company turned to a profit from prior year's loss, with earnings per share beating market projections. Separately, CNA Financial reported a third-quarter profit, compared to last year's loss, while net operating income before net realized investment losses grew from last year, and topped Wall Street view.
New York-based Loews, run by the billionaire Tisch family, reported that net income for the third quarter was $691 million, significantly higher than prior year's net income of $22 million. Net income attributable to Loews common stock was $468 million or $1.08 per share, compared to prior year's loss of $137 million or $0.31 per share.
On a continuing operations basis, quarterly income grew to $692 million from $15 million a year earlier. Income from continuing operations attributable to Loews common stock was $469 million or $1.08 per share, compared to loss of $144 million or $0.33 per share last year.
On average, three analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.89 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
The company attributed the strong third-quarter results mainly to improved net investment income and significantly lower impairment losses at its Chicago - based insurance unit CNA Financial Corp.
Loews operates through its principal subsidiaries, including CNA Financial, a 90% owned subsidiary, Diamond Offshore Drilling, a 50.4% owned subsidiary, HighMount Exploration & Production LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (BWP), a 72% owned subsidiary, and Loews Hotels, a wholly owned subsidiary.
Net income attributable to Loews from CNA Financial surged to $304 million from last year's $76 million, and attributable profit from Diamond Offshore rose to $170 million from $145 million a year ago. Net income attributable to Loews from HighMount declined to $40 million from $47 million in the previous year.
The latest quarter results included net investment losses of $61 million, after tax and non-controlling interests, compared to prior year's net investment losses of $379 million that were primarily driven by other-than-temporary impairment losses recognized in CNA's available-for-sale portfolio driven by credit related issues.
Income from operations before investment losses for the third quarter was $530 million, compared to $235 million in the 2008 third quarter.
Book value per common share increased to $39.54 as of September 30, 2009, compared to $34.60 as of June 30, 2009 and $30.18 as of December 31, 2008. The increase in the third quarter was primarily driven by a $1.7 billion, after tax and non-controlling interests, improvement in the fair value of the company's insurance subsidiary's fixed maturities investment portfolio.
In a separate statement, CNA Financial reported third-quarter net income of $263 million or $0.86 per share, compared to net loss of $331 million or $0.31 per share last year. Net operating income attributable to CNAF common stockholders, before net realized investment losses, was $331 million or $1.11 per share, compared to $83 million or $0.31 per share in the prior year quarter. Analysts expected the company to report earnings of $0.92 per share. The company noted that net realized investment losses decreased $356 million from last year, driven by decreased other-than-temporary impairment losses recorded in the period.
On October 22, Loews' deepwater oil drilling unit Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc., a 50.4% owned subsidiary, reported third-quarter net income of $364.1 million or $2.62 per share, higher than prior year's $310.5 million or $2.23 per share, reflecting foreign currency transaction gain, lower income tax expense and higher sales.
Loews' total third-quarter revenues grew to $3.74 billion from $2.97 billion in the prior year quarter. Insurance premiums dropped to $1.71 billion from $1.80 billion a year ago, while net investment income climbed to $726 million from $355 million last year. Contract drilling revenues edged up to $885 million from $882 million a year earlier. Other revenues were $520 million, down from $584 million in 2008.
Loews' third-quarter revenues from CNA Financial increased to $2.44 billion from $2.31 billion last year. Diamond Offshore's revenue was $919 million, higher than prior year's $868 million. The company's revenues from HighMount declined to $144 million from $200 million a year ago, and Boardwalk Pipeline revenues dropped to $206 million from $222 million in the previous year.
Total third-quarter expenses dropped to $2.78 billion from prior year's $3.01 billion.
In July, Loews reported a sharp fall in profit for the second quarter, reflecting higher investment losses as well as the absence of prior year's hefty gain related to the separation of Lorillard Inc. Income from continuing operations for the 2009 second quarter was $341 million, or $0.78 per share, compared to $511 million, or $1.00 per share, in the 2008 second quarter. Total revenues for the quarter were $3.53 billion, compared to $3.92 billion in the prior year quarter.
CNA Financial's peer American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG) on October 26 reported a sharp increase in profit for the third quarter, primarily due to realized gains from investment compared to a huge loss from investment in the year-ago quarter. Profit surged to $127 million or $1.09 per share from $21 million or $0.18 per share last year. Core net operating earnings went up 8% to $124 million from $115 million in 2008. On a per share basis, core earnings increased to $1.07 from $0.98 in the year-earlier quarter. AFG's gross written premiums declined 16% to $1.36 billion, while net written premiums went down 35% to $620 million.
For the nine months of fiscal 2009, Loews' net income attributable to the company was $161 million or $0.37 per share, compared to prior year's income of $5.49 billion or $10.72 per share that included a tax-free non-cash gain of $4.29 billion related to the separation of Lorillard, Inc. Income from continuing operations was $163 million or $0.37 per share, lower than $776 million or $1.58 per share a year earlier. Income before net investment losses for the period fell to $712 million from $1.25 billion in the previous year. Total nine-month revenues dropped to $10.30 billion from $10.50 billion last year.
CNA Financial's nine-month net income was $173 million or $0.29 per share, higher than last year's $37 million or $0.14 per share. Net operating income grew to $785 million or $2.57 per share from $554 million or $2.06 per share in 2008.
For the nine months, Houston, Texas-based Diamond Offshore Drilling had reported net income of $1.1 billion or $7.91 per share, compared to $1.0 billion or $7.31 per share in the same period last year. Revenue for the nine-month period was $2.7 billion, up from $2.6 billion in the comparable period a year ago.
L closed Friday's regular trading session at $33.10, down $1.27, on a volume of 3.8 million shares.
CNA settled at $21.77 on Friday, down $1.21, on a 945 thousand share volume, while DO closed at $95.25, down $3.25, on a volume of 2.5 million shares.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.