Liberty Mutual Posts Q2 Loss of $585M Driven By Catastrophes

Liberty Mutual Holding Co. reported a second-quarter net loss of $585 million, driven by catastrophe losses of about $2.27 billion.

Tim Sweeney, president and CEO, said weather losses were primarily from widespread wind and hail events in Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado.

Last year during the second quarter, Liberty Mutual posted a net loss of $342 million and about $1.1 billion of catastrophe losses. For the first half of 2023, Liberty Mutual recorded a net loss of $650 million compared to a gain of $156 million during the same time in 2022.

The combined ratio for Q2 was 109.4, about 3.8 points worse than Q2 2022. Catastrophes added 20 points to Liberty Mutual’s Q2 underlying combined ratio of 93.5. Also, the insurer re-estimated current accident year loss reserves for Q1 and added $148 million, contributing another 1.3 points to the underlying combined ratio.

In a statement, Sweeney referenced organizational changes Liberty Mutual announced last month. He said the moves are “aimed at enhancing focus on long-term strategic markets, while better leveraging scale advantages to drive target profitability and sustainable success.” Liberty Mutual formed US Retail Markets to focus on US personal and commercial business and consolidated international operations under Global Risk Solutions.