Cincinnati Financial Net Income Falls 59% To $459 Million As Investment Gains Shrink
Adjusted operating income held near last year's level at $443 million while catastrophe losses added 7.0 points to the combined ratio.
Cincinnati Financial's third-quarter net income fell to $459 million, or $2.96 per share, from $1.122 billion, or $7.11 per share, a year earlier, as the investment gains that padded 2025 mostly disappeared. The insurer, in an 8-K filed Monday, said adjusted operating income, which strips out investment gains and losses, was $443 million, nearly flat against $449 million.
Gains vanish, underwriting holds
After-tax investment gains were $16 million in the quarter against $673 million a year earlier, a $657 million drop that accounts for most of the $663 million decline in net income. Adjusted operating income came to $2.86 per share, against $2.85.
The property casualty combined ratio, where anything under 100% means an underwriting profit, rose to 90.9% from 88.2%. Catastrophe losses added 7.0 points, and after-tax underwriting profit fell $41 million. Favorable reserve development on prior years was $94 million, against $22 million in the year-earlier quarter.
CEO Stephen M. Spray said catastrophe losses were "moving closer to historical averages for the third quarter."
Premiums grow, new business shrinks
Cincinnati Financial is an insurance holding company that sells property casualty coverage, plus life insurance and reinsurance, through independent agencies. Earned premiums rose 5% to $2.690 billion, and pretax investment income climbed 10% to $325 million.
New business written by agencies fell 12% to $315 million, driven by personal lines, where it dropped 34% to $76 million. Property casualty net written premiums grew 2%.
Over nine months, adjusted operating income rose 38% to $997 million from $723 million. The nine-month combined ratio was 95.8%, which Spray called "comfortably within our long-term target of 92% to 98%."
Book value and the dividend
Book value per share was $105.42 at September 30, up $3.07 since year-end but down $3.22 in the quarter. The value creation ratio, the company's measure combining book value growth and dividends, was 5.8% for nine months, against 13.8% a year earlier.
The declared quarterly dividend was $0.94 per share, up 8% from $0.87. Spray said the company has raised dividends for 66 years.
Cash and total investments stood at $34.378 billion at September 30, up 4% from year-end.
Sources
- 8-K Filing — CINCINNATI FINANCIAL CORP (CINF) — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit exhibit9913q26.htm — CINCINNATI FINANCIAL CORP 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit exhibit9923q26.htm — CINCINNATI FINANCIAL CORP 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
- Cincinnati Financial Reports Third-Quarter 2026 Results — prnewswire.com
