NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Chubb Corp., an insurer of commercial property and high-end homes, said fourth-quarter profit rose 6.3 percent as claims costs fell faster than premium revenue.Net income increased to $654 million, or $1.56 a share, from $615 million, or $1.46, a year earlier, the Warren, New Jersey- based company said in a statement today.

Chubb’s claims fell in the absence of another record Atlantic hurricane season, buoying profit even as insurers cut prices to compete.

“Profitability is very good now, so companies feel like they can get away with it,” said J. Paul Newsome, an analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. in St. Louis, before the results were released. “Generally companies want to have more customers, not less.” Shares of Chubb, rated “hold” by Newsome, rose 65 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $52.72 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading today. The stock rose 11 percent in the past 12 months, outperforming the 8.8 percent increase in the 24-member KBW Insurance Index.

l Allstate Corp., the largest publicly traded home and car insurer in the US, said fourth-quarter profit rose 17 percent on lower claims a year after Hurricane Wilma. Allstate's net income increased to $1.21 billion, or $1.93 a share, from $1.04 billion, or $1.59, a year earlier, the Northbrook, Illinois-based company said yesterday in a statement. Profit before investment gains was $1.78 a share, lower than the $1.84 average estimate of 21 analysts compiled by Bloomberg.