Financials
Insurance - Property & Casualty
$18.37B
12.3K
Loews Corporation is a diversified holding company with subsidiaries engaged in commercial property and casualty insurance, transportation and storage of natural gas and natural gas liquids, and the operation of a chain of hotels. The company's primary revenue streams come from its insurance operations through CNA Financial Corporation and its energy operations through Boardwalk Pipeline Partners. Loews operates primarily in the United States and Canada.
Key insights and themes extracted from this filing
Net income attributable to Loews Corporation for the three months ended March 31, 2024, was $457 million, compared to $375 million in the comparable 2023 period. This increase was primarily driven by higher net income at CNA and Boardwalk Pipelines.
EBITDA and net income attributable to Loews Corporation increased $51 million and $35 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 as compared with the comparable 2023 period.
Net income attributable to Loews Corporation decreased $8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 as compared with the comparable 2023 period primarily due to the reasons discussed below.
On September 29, 2023, Boardwalk Pipelines acquired Williams Olefins Pipeline Holdco LLC, renamed Boardwalk Ethane Pipeline Holdco, LLC (“Bayou Ethane”), after the acquisition, from Williams Field Services Group, LLC. Bayou Ethane provides ethane supply and transportation services for industrial customers in Louisiana and Texas.
In February of 2024, CNA completed a public offering of $500 million aggregate principal amount of its 5.1% senior notes due February 15, 2034. CNA intends to use the net proceeds towards retiring the outstanding $550 million aggregate principal amount of its 4.0% senior notes due May 2024.
Loews Hotels & Co received aggregate proceeds of $23 million for the sale of an owned hotel in the first quarter of 2024. In addition, Loews Hotels & Co agreed to acquire all of the remaining outstanding noncontrolling equity interest of an owned and consolidated hotel for $30 million. This transaction was completed on April 1, 2024.
CNA's commercial property and casualty operations (“Property & Casualty Operations”) recorded favorable net prior year loss reserve development of $7 million and unfavorable net prior year loss reserve development of $13 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023.
Total revenues increased $120 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 as compared with the comparable 2023 period. Boardwalk Pipelines' transportation revenues increased $24 million, primarily due to re-contracting at higher rates and recently completed growth projects
The Company's management, including the Company's principal executive officer (“CEO”) and principal financial officer (“CFO”) conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this Report and, based on that evaluation, the CEO and CFO concluded that the Company's disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of March 31, 2024.
Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 includes a discussion of material risk factors facing the Company. There have been no material changes to such risk factors as of the date of this Report.
Catastrophes are an inherent risk of the property and casualty insurance business and have contributed to material period-to-period fluctuations in the Company's results of operations and/or equity. The Company reported catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, of $88 million and $52 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 primarily related to severe weather related events.
The determination of Future policy benefits reserves requires management to make estimates and assumptions about expected policyholder experience over the remaining life of the policy. Since policies may be in force for several decades, these assumptions are subject to significant estimation risk. As a result of this variability, CNA's future policy benefits reserves may be subject to material increases if actual experience develops adversely to its expectations.
Core income for Property & Casualty Operations increased $26 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 as compared with the comparable 2023 period driven by higher net investment income and favorable net prior year loss reserve development partially offset by higher catastrophe losses.
Boardwalk Pipelines' transportation revenues increased $24 million, primarily due to re-contracting at higher rates and recently completed growth projects
Operating revenues improved by $28 million and operating expenses increased by $25 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 as compared with the comparable 2023 period. The increase in operating revenues and operating expenses was driven by the opening of the Loews Arlington Hotel and Convention Center, including pre-opening expenses, in the first quarter of 2024 and consolidating the results of a property previously accounted for under the equity method.
Specialty's combined ratio increased 0.7 points for the three months ended March 31, 2024 as compared with the comparable 2023 period due to a 0.4 point increase in the expense ratio and a 0.2 point increase in the loss ratio. The increase in the expense ratio was driven by higher acquisition costs.
Commercial's combined ratio increased 1.6 points for the three months ended March 31, 2024 as compared with the comparable 2023 period primarily due to a 3.1 point increase in the loss ratio, partially offset by a 1.6 point improvement in the expense ratio.
International's combined ratio improved 3.9 points for the three months ended March 31, 2024 as compared with the comparable 2023 period due to a 5.3 point improvement in the loss ratio, partially offset by a 1.4 point increase in the expense ratio.
The provided 10-Q filing does not explicitly detail any specific innovation or technology initiatives undertaken by Loews Corporation or its subsidiaries during the reported period.
Loews Corporation repurchased 0.2 million and 8.2 million shares of its common stock at aggregate costs of $17 million and $486 million during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023.
For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, Boardwalk Pipelines' capital expenditures were $97 million and $86 million, consisting of growth capital expenditures of $59 million in each period and maintenance capital expenditures of $38 million and $27 million.
CNA paid cash dividends of $2.44 per share on its common stock, including a special cash dividend of $2.00 per share, during the three months ended March 31, 2024.
Boardwalk Pipelines' operations and maintenance expenses are impacted by its compliance with the requirements of, among other regulations, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Mega Rule and Boardwalk Pipelines' efforts to monitor, control and reduce emissions
The provided 10-Q filing does not explicitly detail any specific ESG initiatives undertaken by Loews Corporation or its subsidiaries during the reported period.
A significant portion of Boardwalk Pipelines' revenues is fee-based, being derived from capacity reservation charges under firm agreements with customers, which do not vary significantly period to period, but are impacted by longer term trends in its business such as changes in pricing on contract renewals and other factors. Boardwalk Pipelines has little to no direct commodity price exposure.
Operating revenues also improved due to higher occupancy levels at city center hotels as a result of the continued recovery in group travel in 2024 as compared with the comparable 2023 period and an increase in food and beverage revenues.