NEW YORK (Reuters) - High-end property and casualty insurer Chubb Corp. said yesterday its net income fell 37 percent in the fourth quarter, hurt by investment losses.

The company forecast operating income in 2009 of $4.80 to $5.20 a share, below analysts average expectations of $5.54.

Net earnings fell to $407 million, or $1.13 a share, from $650 million, or $1.68 a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

Chubb, a top writer of specialty insurance, said operating earnings, which exclude realised investment losses, fell to $569 million, or $1.58 a share, from $620 million, or $1.60 a share a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected the Warren, New Jersey-based insurer to earn $1.52 a share on that basis, according to Reuters Estimates.

Chubb's shares fell 2.5 percent in extended trading from their $42.82 close on the New York Stock Exchange.