Loews 1Q net income drops, revenue rises

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The diversified holding company Loews Corp. said Monday that its first-quarter profit fell 3 percent, hurt by lower earnings at Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. and HighMount Exploration & Production LLC.

The company, which also owns Loews hotels and CNA Financial Corp., reported net income of $367 million, or 92 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31. That's down from $379 million, or 92 cents per share, a year earlier.

There were fewer shares outstanding in the current quarter.

Loews, which is based in New York and is controlled by New York's Tisch family, said Diamond's earnings declined mostly because of an increased contract drilling expense and fewer days in the period. HighMount's performance was hurt by an impairment charge

Revenue rose 2 percent to $3.74 billion from $3.67 billion.