Verisk beats quarterly profit estimates on strong demand for analytics products

Verisk Analytics

31/07/2024 13:07

July 31 (Reuters) - Data analytics firm Verisk  VRSK.O 
beat second-quarter profit estimates on Wednesday, driven by
strong demand for its products that are primarily used by
property and casualty (P&C) insurers to assess underwriting
risks.
    
    WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
    P&C insurers have been seeing higher catastrophe losses in
recent years due to extreme weather events around the world,
prompting them to spend more on analytics that help them
determine policy risks.
    Global insured losses from natural catastrophes in the first
half of 2024 were at least $61 billion, 25% above the 10-year
average for the period, heavily driven by storm activity in the
United States, according to a report by reinsurance broker
Gallagher Re.
    Moreover, growing optimism around rate cuts has also been
encouraging clients to spend more on such products.
        
    CONTEXT
    The company now primarily caters to U.S. P&C insurers across
personal and commercial lines of business after it divested from
specialized markets and financial services businesses in March
2022 and April 2022, respectively.
    
    BY THE NUMBERS
    On an adjusted basis, Verisk earned $1.74 per share in the
second quarter, beating analysts' estimates of $1.64 per share,
according to LSEG data.
    The company's consolidated revenue rose 6.2% to $717 million
compared with the previous year.

 (Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by
Vijay Kishore)
 ((JaiveerSingh.Shekhawat@thomsonreuters.com;))