XL misses 4Q profit forecasts

HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) _ XL Group PLC (XL) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter profit of $28.8 million.

On a per-share basis, the Hamilton, Bermuda-based company said it had net income of 11 cents. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 45 cents per share.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 49 cents per share.

The insurance and reinsurance company posted revenue of $2.9 billion in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $2.91 billion.

For the year, the company reported a loss of $560.4 million, or $2.16 per share, swinging to a loss in the period. Revenue was reported as $11.21 billion.

XL shares have climbed almost 5 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed 5.5 percent. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $36.85, a fall of almost 3 percent in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on XL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/XL