Allstate Posts $1.1 Billion Loss, Cuts 1,000 Jobs

Allstate Corp. will cut 1,000 jobs at its life insurance operations and review the products sold by the unit after losses on investments caused the company’s first unprofitable year as a public firm. Shares dropped 12 percent in extended trading.

The fourth-quarter net loss of $1.13 billion, or $2.11 a share, compares with a profit of $760 million, or $1.36 a share, in the same period a year earlier, the Northbrook, Illinois- based insurer said today in a statement. Excluding the declines in the value of some holdings, Allstate earned 97 cents, missing the $1.35 average estimate of 18 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Allstate joins competitors Progressive Corp. and Travelers Cos. in writing down investments...

Bloomberg: Allstate Posts $1.1 Billion Loss, Cuts 1,000 Jobs