(Reuters) – Verisk Analytics reported a better-than-expected profit for the first quarter on Wednesday, driven by demand for its data analytics products primarily used by property and casualty (P&C) insurers to assess policy risks.
P&C insurers have been facing higher losses due to claims triggered by increasing numbers of extreme weather events around the world.
The California fires, one of the costliest natural disasters in American history, alone are estimated to have caused economic losses running up to $250 billion, dealing a major blow to insurers’ earnings.
New Jersey-based Verisk primarily serves the P&C insurers, providing catastrophe modeling and predictive analysis to help them assess risk and optimize policy pricing.
In recent years, the company has leveraged AI to deliver deeper insights into emerging risks, improving underwriting and claims management.
Verisk’s consolidated first-quarter revenue rose 7% to $753 million from a year earlier, beating analysts’ average estimate of $749.8 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company earned $1.73 per share on an adjusted basis in the three months ended March 31, up from $1.63 a year ago.
Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $1.68 per share.
Underwriting revenue increased 6.8% to $532 million in the reported quarter, while claims revenue climbed 7.5% as demand for the company’s anti-fraud and property estimating solutions grew.
Verisk shares are up 7.5% so far this year, compared with a near 5% fall in the S&P 500 index.
(Reporting by Atharva Singh; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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