The Hartford Profits Fall In First Quarter

April 29--HARTFORD -- The Hartford Financial Services Group underperformed Wall Street expectations on both profit and revenue during the first quarter of 2016, as hedge fund and real estate losses and underwriting losses on automobile insurance battered the company's bottom line.

Net income was $323 million, a 31 percent decrease from $467 million in the first quarter of 2015. Capital losses were $96 million.

Net income was 79 cents per diluted share, down 27 percent from $1.08 per share in the same period of 2015. Net income, excluding one-time events, was 95 cents a share. Analysts had expected $1.01 per share, according to those surveyed by Reuters.

The company reported total revenues of $4.4 billion, down from $4.6 billion in the first quarter of 2015. Analysts had expected nearly $4.7 billion.

Results were released after the market closed Thursday.

Almost every segment had worse performance from the same period in 2015 -- property and casualty, group benefits, mutual funds and Talcott Resolution.

Only the corporate category, which includes the company's capital raising activities and corporate headquarters expenses, was in better shape in 2016.

Within property and casualty, commercial lines had 6 percent higher net income than it had in the first quarter of 2015, reaching $249 million. Underwriting gain on the policies, which serve businesses, more than doubled.

But in personal lines, which include both homeowner's insurance and auto insurance, profits fell by 69 percent -- down to $23 million.

Successful underwriting is measured by the combined ratio, the sum of losses and expenses divided by premiums paid. In auto insurance during the first three months of 2016, the company paid out 6.6 more cents than it received in premiums.

The company said there were more serious accidents during 2014, and both more frequent accidents and more costly accidents than they had projected during 2015.

Written premiums across the company were essentially flat, the company said.

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