Severe U.S. winter weather left Chubb Corp. with higher catastrophe expenses in its 2015 first quarter, a major factor that dampened net income. But CEO John Finnegan framed the overall results as “solid” all the same.

“Chubb produced solid results in the first quarter of 2015,” Finnegan – also chairman and president – said in prepared remarks. “Although catastrophe losses alone had an adverse impact of $0.69 per share, we still generated operating income of $1.57 per share.

Chubb’s net income for the quarter came in at $375 million, or $1.60 per share. That compares to $449 million, or $1.80 per share, in the 2014 first quarter.

The combined ratio hit 93.9, versus 93.2 in 2014.

Net written and earn premiums were booked at $3.1 billion, respectively, versus $3 billion in the 2014 first quarter.

Investment income dipped during the quarter, coming in at $321 million. In the 2014 first quarter, Chubb reported $341 million in investment income. One detail: property/casualty investment income after taxes was booked at $264 million in the quarter, down 5 percent from $277 million over the same period a year ago.

Chubb reported catastrophe loss impact for Q1 2015 at $250 million before tax. Pre-tax catastrophe impact, in contrast, was $199 million in the 2014 first quarter.

Finnigan noted that Chubb continued to achieve renewal rate increases in Q1 and also maintain high retention levels in all of its businesses.

Chub saw small increases in net written premiums for its personal and commercial insurance divisions, but net written premiums stayed flat for its specialty insurance arm.

Source: Chubb