Chubb posted net income of $419 million, or $1.42 per share, compared with $518 million, or $1.59 per share a year ago. The results included investment gains, which added 15 cents per share to the results.
Excluding one-time items, the company earned $1.27 per share, down from $1.41, a year ago. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected $1.02 per share in adjusted earnings. Shares rose 72 cents, or 1.2 percent, to close at $62.56. They rose 68 cents in after-market trading.
The storm losses amounted to $329 million, or 72 cents per share. A year ago in the same quarter, storm losses totaled $193 million, or 38 cents per share.
The company said its combined loss and expense ratio was 94.9 percent, compared with 90.4 percent in 2010. A ratio above 100 means that for every premium dollar taken in, more than a dollar went to cover claims and other expenses. The farther the figure is below 100 the more profitable are the company's insurance operations.
Chubb said that it wrote $3.06 billion in premiums during the quarter, up 6 percent from $2.89 billion in the same period last year.
Premiums increased 3 percent in the United States and 14 percent outside the U.S.
The company boosted its full-year guidance to a range of $5.55 to $5.85 from the range of $5.35 to $5.75 it had provided in January.