Property and casualty insurer Travellers Cos Inc reported its smallest quarterly profit since 2012, when hurricane Sandy struck the US Atlantic coast. Travellers said its second-quarter earnings were hit by a series of weather-related and other natural disasters, including the Fort McMurray wildfires in Canada's Alberta oil sands region.
Insurers have also been flooded with claims stemming from hail storms in Texas, earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador as well as floods in Europe.
Travellers' results come days after insurers such as Chubb Ltd, Bermuda-based Validus Holdings Ltd and XL Group PLC said they estimated catastrophe losses to be higher for the second quarter.
The companies are yet to report results.
Travellers' net income fell 18 percent to $664 million, or $2.24 per share, in the second quarter ended June 30. It had earned roughly $300 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, when it paid out claims related to hurricane Sandy.
However, Travellers' operating income of $2.20 per share in the latest quarter beat average analysts' estimate of $2.07, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Pre-tax catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, rose more than 50 percent to $333 million.
Travellers said its pre-tax investment income fell 13.1 percent to $549 million.
Investment income at insurers has been falling for the past few years as the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at historical low levels since the financial crisis.