US insurer Chubb has reported an 83% drop in fourth-quarter net profits thanks mainly to claims paid out for the collapse of energy company Enron.
The insurer earned net profits of $28.7m (£20.3m), or 16 cents per share, compared with $168.4m (£119.3m), or 95 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.
The company had been expected to earn 43 cents per share, according to research firm Thomson Financial/First Call.
The Enron-related claims involved a charge of $143m (£101.3m), after tax, to cover claims on bonds that insured the collapsed energy trader's obligations.
Excluding one-time items such as realized investment gains and losses, Chubb's fourth-quarter profits dropped to 21 cents per share from 93 cents, the company said.
Chubb had a difficult 2001. In the third quarter, it was hit by losses related to the 11 September terrorist attacks and, in the second quarter, its property & casualty division suffered big losses from Tropical Storm Allison.
