Hartford reports a slight decline in Q4 performance

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. reported a slight decrease in net income during the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the previous year, despite a strong development of its commercial lines.

fourth quarter, ”said Christopher Swift, Hartford's chairman and CEO, in a results interview Friday. "These results were in line with or better than the guidance we provided a year ago, driven by higher pricing, … insurance discipline and business efficiency."

Hartford, Connecticut-based insurers reported a fourth-quarter net profit of $ 532 million, a decrease of 2% compared to the same quarter in 2019. For the whole of 2020, it amounted to a net profit of $ 1

.7 billion, a decrease of 17 % compared to 2019, partly due to the effects of coronavirus and lower net investment income. Hartford reported $ 278 million in COVID-19 receivables for the year.

Premium premiums decreased to $ 2.87 billion in the fourth quarter from $ 2.90 billion during the same period in 2019. Written premiums for the year amounted to $ 11.91 billion, an increase of $ 11.58 billion in 2019

In commercial terms, Hartford reported a net profit of $ 478 million for the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to $ 302 million the year before, and a total share of 91.8, a decrease of 6.4 points.

Net profit on commercial lines for 2020 decreased by 28% to $ 856 million, and the line's total share decreased 2.7 points to 100.4.

Commercial written premiums remained unchanged at $ 2.2 million during the fourth quarter. This year's written premiums increased by 6% from 2019 to almost $ 9.0 million.

The Commercial Lines segment also reported COVID-19 losses of $ 28 million before tax in the fourth quarter, including $ 14 million in employee compensation.

Financial reports reported that Hartford increased its reserves at the turn of the year by $ 254 million for sexual assault and assault on Boy Scouts of America. The insurer has "not set up any reserves" to fight COVID-19 business interruption disputes in court, said Hartford President Doug Elliott.

"We are pleased that the overwhelming majority of (business interruption) decisions so far … have been held in favor of insurance companies," Swift said. ”

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