UPDATE 2-US insurer Hartford beats Street, shares up 5 pct

By Lilla Zuill NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Hartford Financial Services Group Inc, a large U.S. life and property insurer that took $3.4 billion in federal aid this year, reported sharply improved third-quarter results on Tuesday, beating Wall Street expectations and sending its shares up nearly 5 percent. The company posted its fifth straight quarterly net loss, but had a vast improvement from a record loss a year earlier. Hartford was badly battered in late 2008 and into 2009 by massive losses on stock market-linked annuities and investments. Hartford's capital losses narrowed as credit markets improved. In the latest quarter, Hartford had net realized capital losses of $885 million from impaired investments and a hedging program, compared with capital losses of $2.2 billion a year ago. Third-quarter earnings from operations, or what Hartford refers to as "core" profit, was $660 million, or $1.56 a share, widely beating analysts' average expectations of a profit on this basis of $1.11 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. A year ago, the 199-year-old insurer reported a "core" loss of $422 million, or $1.40 a share. The company raised its forecast for "core" earnings for the full year to a range of 85 cents to $1.05 per share, from its previous outlook of nil to 20 cents a share. Hartford took federal aid earlier this year to shore up its finances. It also raised billions of dollars more in private and public transactions, slashed its dividend and laid off staff to stabilize its financial position. The company posted a third-quarter net loss of $220 million, or 79 cents a share -- vastly improved from $2.6 billion, or $8.74 a share, in the year-ago period. The stock gained 4.8 percent following the earnings report to trade at $27.07 after closing at $25.82, up 4 percent or $1.01 for the session on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares have staged a strong recovery since an all-time low of $3.33 in March, when investor concerns about life insurers running short of capital reached a fever pitch. (Reporting by Lilla Zuill; Editing by Gary Hill) Keywords: HARTFORDFINANCIAL/ ([e-mail];[phone]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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