By Micah Maidenberg

Chubb Ltd.'s profit recovered in the first quarter and was ahead of forecasts from analysts.

The insurer reported quarterly net income of $2.3 billion, or $5.07 a share, up from $252 million, or 55 cents a share, for the year-earlier period, when the Covid-19 pandemic was first spreading in many markets.

Core operating earnings, which strips out certain gains after taxes, totaled $2.52 a share in the quarter and therefore was ahead of the $2.47 a share that analysts predicted for that metric, according to FactSet.

Chubb said it wrote $8.66 billion in premiums on a net basis in the period, up almost 9% year over year.

The company's property and casualty unit focused on commercial clients in the U.S. and Canada wrote $3.66 billion in net premiums, up 13% year over year. Net premiums for personal property and casualty lines in North America, however, slipped 0.8% to about $1.1 billion.

In March, Chubb offered to buy Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. in what would have been a roughly $23 billion transaction. Hartford rejected the deal.

Last year, Chubb's net-catastrophe losses included a charge tied to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the company's recent annual report. That charge related in part to entertainment and commercial property business interruption products, liability insurance and workers' compensation, and added 4.5 percentage points to the company's property and casualty combined ratio.

A ratio of under 100% indicates the company is producing underwriting income from property and casualty insurance, or an underwriting loss if it exceeds 100%.

In the first quarter, Chubb's property and casualty combined ratio hit 91.8% compared with 89.1% for the prior year.

"Though it was an active quarter for natural catastrophes, we published an excellent combined ratio of 91.8%," Chief Executive Evan Greenberg said in a statement.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-27-21 1646ET