# Travelers Shares Fall 4% as Q3 Catastrophe Losses Reach $538 Million By John Kim Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/33501 Published: 2026-10-16T21:34:34.000Z Updated: 2026-10-16T21:34:34.000Z Section: Business > Net income rose 2% to $1.917 billion, while net written premiums were nearly unchanged at $11.480 billion. Shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. were down about 4% in premarket trading Friday, Oct. 16, while the insurer reported $538 million in third-quarter catastrophe losses alongside higher net and core income. The stock was at $368.72 before the regular session, following a Thursday close of $383.89. Third-quarter net income was $1.917 billion, up 2% from $1.888 billion a year earlier. Core income increased 4% to $1.947 billion. Diluted earnings per share reached $9.04, compared with $8.24 a year earlier. Core earnings per diluted share rose to $9.18 from $8.14. Catastrophe losses were $538 million, compared with $402 million in the prior-year quarter. Favorable development in earlier accident-year reserves reached $234 million, versus $22 million a year earlier. Pretax net investment income rose 6% to $1.098 billion, with after-tax income of $908 million. After-tax realized investment losses were $30 million, following $21 million in gains in the earlier period. Pre-tax underwriting income totaled $1.432 billion, an increase of $54 million. The combined ratio improved to 86.8% from 87.3%, while the underlying combined ratio moved to 84.1% from 83.9%. Net written premiums came to $11.480 billion, close to $11.473 billion a year earlier. Excluding Canadian businesses sold this year, premiums advanced 2%. Business Insurance premiums increased 3% to $5.868 billion, and Bond and Specialty Insurance premiums rose 12% to $1.209 billion. New business in Bond and Specialty grew 18%, and the segment benefited from increased surety activity. Personal Insurance premiums declined 7% to $4.403 billion. Earned premiums were $11.103 billion, down about 0.3% year over year, in [earlier coverage of the quarter](). Nine-month net income reached $5.836 billion, up 54%, while the combined ratio improved 6.9 points to 86.3%. Travelers repurchased four million shares for $1.508 billion, an average of $376 per share. Repurchases and other capital distributions returned about $1.8 billion to shareholders. At the end of September, $2.415 billion remained under share repurchase authorizations. At $28.995 billion, shareholders’ equity was 12% below its year-end 2025 level, reflecting higher unrealized losses. Book value per share declined 6% to $141.48, while adjusted book value per share gained 9% to $172.47. The board declared a $1.25 quarterly dividend, payable Dec. 31 to shareholders of record Dec. 10. ## Links in this article - [earlier coverage of the quarter](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/33444)