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Last Update: 07-Feb-13 08:19 ET
AllState shares rise 5% following better than expected earnings
Allstate (ALL $46.20 +2.19) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.59 per share, $0.61 better than the Capital IQ consensus of ($0.02), while; revenues rose 3.8% year/year to $8.55 billion versus the $6.74 bln consensus. Catastrophe losses primarily attributable to Sandy drove the decline in net and operating income for the quarter, partially offset by a 4.0 point improvement in the underlying combined ratio. Allstate's consolidated investment portfolio increased to $97.28 billion at December 31, 2012 compared to $95.62 billion at December 31, 2011, as investment returns and operating cash flow more than offset the impact of the managed reduction in Allstate Financial's liabilities. Pre-tax net unrealized capital gains were $5.55 billion at December 31, 2012 compared to $2.88 billion at December 31, 2011, resulting from tighter credit spreads, lower interest rates, and higher equity values. "Today, the Board took additional actions to improve shareholder value by increasing the quarterly dividend to $0.25 and authorizing an additional $1 billion repurchase program expected to be completed by March 2014, bringing the total buyback authorization to $2.0 billion. We repurchased 4.6 million shares at a cost of $182 million in the fourth quarter, bringing the total for 2012 to 26.7 million shares repurchased for $910 million. Allstate's earnings, portfolio valuation growth and these repurchases increased book value per diluted share by 17.2% to $42.39 at year-end 2012. Statutory surplus at December 31, 2012 was an estimated $17.2 billion for the combined insurance operating companies. Property-liability surplus was an estimated $13.7 billion, with Allstate Financial companies accounting for the remainder. This compared to combined insurance companies' surplus at September 30, 2012 of $17.0 billion and December 31, 2011 of $15.6 billion.
