P&C Industry's First Half Net Income Plunges

Monday, January 15th, 2001 — The U.S. property/casualty industry's net income after taxes dropped to $10 billion in this year's first half, down 32.5 percent from $14.9 billion a year ago.

The industry's surplus fell $7.6 billion, or 2.3 percent, from year-end 1999 to $326.7 billion at June 30, according to Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) and the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII).

The $4.8 billion decline in net income after taxes in this year's first half reflects a near doubling of the industry's net loss on underwriting to $14.7 billion from $7.8 billion for first-half 1999.

The combined ratio — a key measure of losses and other underwriting expenses per dollar of premium — deteriorated to 109.2 percent in the first half of this year, 4.4 percentage points worse than the 104.8 percent a year ago.