Hanover Insurance Group reported a 24% increase in operating income year-to-year in a fourth-quarter earnings report Tuesday.
The Worcester insurer’s fourth-quarter operating income amounted to $2.01 per diluted share.
Fourth-quarter revenues rose year-to-year by 14%, hitting nearly $1.3 billion. Operating income rose to $80.2 million, while net income declined 11% to $109.8 million. For the full year, revenues rose 9% to nearly $4.9 billion.
Hanover announced in December a $150-million stock buyback to complete a planned repurchase of $850 million for the fiscal year, along with a $100-million special dividend. Proceeds for the buybacks came from the 2018 sale of its London specialty insurance business Chaucer, which brought in up to $940 million.
“We will continue to deploy our capital with our shareholder interests in mind,” Jeffrey Farber, Hanover’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in a statement.
