(Reuters) – The quarterly profit of property and casualty insurer Travelers Companies, (NYSE:) Inc rose 48% to beat analyst estimates. This was due to lower catastrophic claims that offset losses from investments.

Core income increased to $1.04 Billion, or $4.22 per Share, during the quarter that ended March 31 from $699 MILLION, or $2.73 Per Share, one year ago.

According to Refinitiv IBES data, analysts had on average expected a profit $3.57 per share.

New York’s Travelers reports that its net written premiums increased by 11% to $9.37 billion during the third quarter.

Over the last two years, the insurance industry has been faced with claims by businesses that lost revenue due to the coronavirus crisis.

Although pandemic claims are down, insurance companies now face hefty claims due to the Ukraine crisis. This is because sanctions have increased and war drags on.

S&P Global (NYSE:) said earlier this month insurance losses from the Ukraine conflict could total $35 billion, with cyber one of the classes of insurance most exposed.

Underwriting gains for Travelers increased to $659million from $217 million one year prior. Pretax net investment income dropped 9% to 637 million due to the decline in income received from the non-fixed income portfolio.

A combined ratio of 91.3% was reported by the company, as compared to 96.6% one year ago. If the ratio is below 100, it means that the insurance company earned more in premiums and paid less in claims.