Q4 2024 Quarterly Prepared Remarks

Loews Corporation Fourth Quarter 2024 Earnings Remarks

Ben Tisch, President & CEO

Loews had a fantastic quarter and year, with underlying strength coming from all three of our

consolidated subsidiaries. Jane will get into more detail on the results, but before she does—and

since these are my first quarterly remarks as CEO—I want to take a moment to introduce myself

and explain how I think about our company and its subsidiaries. While I may express myself

differently than my father Jim, my views will sound very familiar because we see many things in

the same way. Like my father and his father before him, I believe that the CEO of Loews

Corporation has one job, and one job only: to grow intrinsic value per share.

First, a little background on me: My professional career started in the two-year investment

banking program within the Financial Sponsors Group at Lehman Brothers. From there, I moved

on to Fortress Investment Group where I was originally hired as an analyst for a long/short equity

team. Over the next six years, I moved around the company, eventually working directly for the

CEO of the Macro Fund. In 2011, I left Fortress to join Loews. Initially, I found my comfort zone in

the insurance space, predominantly focusing on our subsidiary CNA and its investment portfolio

which we run internally out of our offices here in Manhattan. However, it didn’t take me long to

recognize that in order to be a wise capital allocator, I would have to think beyond CNA and

develop a deep understanding of each of our subsidiaries—the drivers and potential pitfalls of

their financial performance. Over the past 14 years I’ve been busy becoming intimately involved

with the intricacies of each of our businesses.

That brings us to today, and the question of how best to increase intrinsic value per share. Having

studied the great investors—and having had the benefit of being personally tutored by one in my

father—I’ve distilled all the lessons learned into six simple words: “Grow the numerator, shrink

the denominator.” You’ll hear that again from me in the future, so allow me to spend a minute

or so explaining exactly what I mean by that brief sentence. The numerator is the intrinsic value

of the enterprise, or more colloquially the sum of our parts. Therefore, we focus on actions we

can take, mainly from a capital allocation perspective, to increase the intrinsic value of our

underlying businesses. From a Loews perspective, increasing the value of each subsidiary

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absolutely starts with having in place the best management teams we can find to run each of our

businesses. After we’ve checked and secured that foundation, we then focus on ensuring that

any subsidiary-level investments that are made are wisely thought through and represent the

highest and best use of capital. It’s been my experience that if we repeat that methodology

enough, creating sustainable moats and business processes along the way, we should have

consistently high-performing assets.

I’m lucky enough to have become CEO at a point in time when each of our major holdings is in a

position of strength. They each carry appropriately modest amounts of subsidiary level debt;

each has underlying sector and company-specific tailwinds; and most importantly, they each

generate cash. My grandfather Larry Tisch was a cashflow-based investor, my father Jim is a

cashflow-based investor, and—you may have figured this out by now—I too am a cashflow-based

investor. The beauty of the conglomerate structure is its ability to produce cash, which Loews

can then allocate, either to growth projects or other spending that we believe will give us the

best returns, industry and company agnostic. Since the beginning of 2018, our subsidiaries have

spent about $3.5 billion on growth projects and acquisitions with attractive double-digit returns.

Growth projects at Boardwalk have expanded the company and increased EBITDA from around

$750 million in 2018 to just under $1.1 billion in 2024. At Loews Hotels under the leadership of

my cousin and thought partner Alex Tisch, adjusted EBITDA increased from around $220 million

in 2018 to nearly $330 million in 2024, and that number doesn’t include our three new Orlando

properties which are fully paid for and opening in the first half of this year. Accelerating the

growth of the enterprise, our insurance company has seen core income soar from less than $850

million to $1.3 billion over that same period, largely due to substantial growth in underlying

underwriting income. While under-appreciated by the markets, our intrinsic value—our

numerator—has grown substantially during this time.

As I mentioned earlier, I believe that my job is to continue to increase the intrinsic value of Loews

per share. Another way we have historically accomplished this goal is by shrinking the

denominator through share repurchases. I know you have read or heard this before from Jim,

and I believe it too: At Loews, repurchasing our shares is a key tool we can choose to deploy to

create shareholder value. When the market values our company at a significant discount to what

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we believe is the true intrinsic value of the enterprise, and when there are no higher return

projects for our cash at the subsidiary or corporate level, we will use corporate cash to buy back

shares. To the extent this valuation gap persists, you can expect us to continue to repurchase

shares with our excess cash flow. While the numbers may not align perfectly from year to year

for various reasons, over the last decade, Loews has utilized just about every dollar of free cash

flow to reduce the shares outstanding, thus increasing proportional ownership for all remaining

shareholders. Since the beginning of 2018, we’ve spent about $6.3 billion of cash retiring about

120 million shares, or more than a third of the shares outstanding at the time. It’s hard to

conceive of a more exponential financial framework than one in which the numerator or intrinsic

value steadily increases concurrent with the progressive impacts of annual reductions in the

share count or denominator.

opportunity for both organic and inorganic growth. You can rest assured that, while share

repurchases and subsidiary growth projects are not mutually exclusive, we will allocate more

capital to share repurchases when the discount between Loews’s share price and our view of its

intrinsic value widens.

With regard to acquisitions of new Loews subsidiaries, private market valuations have been and

remain high, with infinite private equity dollars on the sidelines waiting to pounce and bid up

every potential opportunity. From a long-term value creation perspective, the cash flow-

generative nature of our businesses and the significant discount to our sum of the parts create

an enormous opportunity to compound intrinsic value per share without having to use either

financial leverage or to take undue risk. We are not in the empire-building business, and we feel

absolutely zero pressure to grow the enterprise value of the whole at the expense of intrinsic

value per share. If the best asset allocation decision continues to be buying back shares for the

next 10 years, I will be thrilled with the same portfolio of assets we have today and a substantially

lower share count. If a compelling opportunity presents itself, we will think long and hard before

putting your and our capital at risk . . . but consider me a skeptic of that happening anytime soon.

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Over time, I expect the investment climate will change, I expect one or more of our subsidiaries

will encounter speed bumps, and I expect I’ll make mistakes. Things won’t always feel as good as

they do today. What I’ve laid out is a very basic framework for how we have and will continue to

tackle issues of capital allocation, with the recognition that while the operating or investing

environment might change, we’ll strive to enhance intrinsic value per share with each and every

action we take.

With that I’ll turn it over to Jane for a more detailed look at our operating performance for the

quarter and year.

Jane Wang, CFO

Thanks, Ben. Loews reported stellar 2024 results, with net income of $1,414 million or $6.41 per

share. As previously announced, our fourth quarter and full year results were impacted by a $265

million non-cash charge related to the settlement of a portion of CNA’s pension liability. Excluding

this charge, 2024 net income increased by 17% to $1,679 million, or $7.61 per share, from the

prior year’s $1,434 million, or $6.29 per share. That increase was driven by higher income at CNA,

Boardwalk, and the parent company. For the fourth quarter, Loews reported net income of $187

million compared to $446 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Apart from the pension charge,

fourth quarter net income was impacted by lower income at CNA, partially offset by higher

income from parent company investments and Boardwalk.

Loews book value per share increased from $70.69 at the end of 2023 to $79.49 at the end of

2024. Excluding accumulated other comprehensive income, book value per share increased by

more than 7% from $81.92 at the end of 2023 to $88.18 at the end of 2024.

Before I discuss our subsidiary results, I am pleased to report that two of our subsidiaries have

received positive recognition by the ratings agencies. S&P upgraded Boardwalk to BBB flat, and

AM Best and Moody’s revised their outlooks on CNA from stable to positive.

CNA contributed fourth quarter net income of $19 million, or $284 million excluding the pension

charge, compared to $336 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. For the full year, CNA contributed

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net income of $879 million, or $1,144 million excluding the pension charge, which is a 5% increase

from the prior year. This was primarily driven by higher net investment income, with

contributions from limited partnerships, common stocks, and fixed income securities. LPs and

common stocks posted a 13.3% return versus 9.4% in the prior year. Pre-tax yields on the fixed

income portfolio increased by 12 basis points in 2024 to 4.8%.

In 2024, CNA continued its trajectory of steady, profitable growth. Net written premiums grew

by nearly 8% in 2024, driven by a 9% increase in new business, a 5% increase in renewal premiums

and strong retention at 85%. The combined ratios of 93.1% for the fourth quarter and 94.9% for

the full year were both approximately one point higher than the comparable prior year period

due to higher catastrophes, which were partially offset by stronger underlying underwriting

gains. With respect to the California wildfires, CNA expects to record a $40 million to $70 million

pretax net loss in the first quarter of 2025.

Please refer to CNA's Investor Relations website for more details on their results.

tailwinds, leading to higher transportation and storage rates. Fourth quarter EBITDA increased by

12% to $290 million, and full year EBITDA increased by 17% to nearly $1.1 billion. Boardwalk

reported fourth quarter and full year net income of $145 million and $413 million, respectively.

Both fourth quarter and full year 2024 net income benefited from lower income tax expense due

to a $36 million adjustment to deferred state income tax liabilities as a result of state tax reform

in Louisiana. Excluding that adjustment, net income increased by 18% and 33% in the fourth

quarter and full year, respectively, from the prior year periods.

Greater demand for natural gas transportation has led to a significant increase in contractual

backlog. Boardwalk ended 2024 with nearly $14.2 billion of backlog, an increase of about $4.5

billion from $9.7 billion at the beginning of 2024. The company’s current backlog has a weighted

average duration of approximately eight years. This substantial uptick in backlog was driven in

part by the announcement of two large projects, both of which are underpinned by long term

contracts with utility customers. With Boardwalk’s strong cash flow profile, we expect that they

will be able to self-finance these expenditures while continuing to pay distributions to Loews.

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In our hospitality business, Loews Hotels reported $84 million of adjusted EBITDA in the fourth

quarter of 2024 compared with $83 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Full year 2024 adjusted

EBITDA was $326 million versus $328 million in 2023. Lower occupancy in Orlando was partially

offset by contributions from the new Loews Arlington Hotel and Convention Center, as well as

improved results at the company’s city center properties due to the ongoing recovery in group

travel. On a net income basis, Loews Hotels reported $70 million of net income attributable to

Loews in 2024 versus $147 million in 2023. The year-over-year decline was due to a $36 million

gain in 2023 related to the consolidation of a previously unconsolidated joint venture property,

and higher depreciation and interest expense related to the company's newly opened property

in Arlington, Texas. Similarly, we anticipate that the company’s three new Orlando properties will

generate meaningful EBITDA but will negatively impact 2025 net income results due to

depreciation and interest expense.

Last month, the hotel company opened the Universal Stella Nova Resort, the first of its three new

resort properties adjacent to the soon-to-be-opened Universal Epic Universe theme park in

Orlando. The two remaining properties, the Universal Terra Luna Resort and Universal Helios

Grand Hotel, are anticipated to open in the first half of 2025. After the addition of those three

properties, Loews Hotels will manage and have a 50% interest in 11 properties in Orlando, with

a combined total of 11,000 rooms.

Finally, the Loews parent company recorded higher investment income for 2024’s fourth quarter

and the full year, driven by higher returns on the parent company’s common stock portfolio.

During the fourth quarter of 2024, net investment income increased by $9 million to $33 million

compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. For the full year the parent company produced net

investment income of $193 million, an increase of more than $100 million compared to $90

million in 2023.

From a cash flow perspective, Loews received $934 million in dividends from CNA and $400

million of distributions from Boardwalk in 2024. During the fourth quarter, Loews repurchased

about 4.2 million shares for approximately $349 million. That brings our total 2024 share

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repurchases to 7.7 million shares at a total cost of about $611 million. Loews ended 2024 with

$3.3 billion in cash and short-term investments.

Today, CNA announced that it increased its regular quarterly dividend to $0.46 per share and

declared a special dividend of $2.00 per share, which amounts to $611 million for Loews, which

we expect to receive in March.