Hotels and pipelines drive Loews profits higher as insurance underwriting softens

Hotels and pipelines drive Loews profits higher as insurance underwriting softens Published: 07:43 03 Aug 2026 EDT Loews Corp (NYSE:L) , the New York-listed conglomerate with interests in insurance, pipelines, hotels and packaging, reported second-quarter net income of $444 million as its smaller businesses picked up the slack from a weakening insurance market. That compares with $391 million a year earlier, with earnings per share rising to $2.16 from $1.87. Revenue for the three months to 30 June increased to $4.73 billion from $4.56 billion. The sharpest improvement came at Loews Hotels, where net income jumped 71% to $48 million from $28 million, helped by higher room rates and occupancy at its Universal Orlando Resort properties and a refurbished Miami Beach hotel. Boardwalk Pipelines, which transports natural gas, contributed $100 million against $88 million, benefiting from higher contracting rates and increased product sales. CNA Financial, the commercial insurer that accounts for the bulk of group revenue, delivered $294 million to Loews compared with $274 million, though the gain came from investment income rather than the underwriting business itself. CNA's property and casualty combined ratio, a measure of claims and expenses as a proportion of premiums where a figure below 100% indicates an underwriting profit, deteriorated by 2.4 percentage points to 96.5%. The underlying loss ratio climbed to 64.1% from 61.5%, which the company attributed to rising claims costs and weaker pricing in certain lines. Book value per share rose to $93.52 at the end of June from $90.71 at the close of 2025. Loews bought back 1.4 million shares during the quarter at a cost of $146 million, continuing a long-running programme that has substantially reduced the share count ov...