Property and casualty insurer Allstate Corp. said Wednesday it was profitable in the first-quarter, reversing a year-ago loss, even as costs rose for insuring against damage caused by catastrophes including severe winter weather in the eastern United States.

Those catastrophes were "near record" losses during the first quarter for Allstate, totaling $648 million, Tom Wilson, Allstate's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.

Last week, commercial and property insurer Travelers Cos. said damage caused by the same storm, as well as an earthquake in Chile led it to post a 2 percent decline in its first-quarter profit.

Allstate, based in Northbrook, Ill., said its net income totaled $120 million compared to a loss of $274 million a year ago. Net earnings per share were 22 cents versus a loss of 51 cents last year.

Operating income, which excludes investment gains and losses, fell 17.4 percent to $375 million, or 69 cents per share, versus $454 million, or 84 cents per share, a year ago.

Total revenues for the most recent quarter were $7.75 billion, a decrease of nearly 2 percent from the first quarter of 2009.

Results came short of Wall Street's expectations for earnings of 79 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters. Analysts typically exclude investment gains and losses from their estimates.

Allstate's shares closed Wednesday up 50 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $33.77. They fell 95 cents or 2.8 percent in after-hours trading.

The insurer's net investment income declined 10.7 percent to $1.05 billion.

Net realized capital losses from the period, before taxes, totaled $348 million, and included $223 million of impairment write-downs related to residential and commercial real estate exposure.

Catastrophe losses for the quarter totaled $648 million, up 25.6 percent from the year-ago period. They were the second highest for a first quarter in Allstate's history with 11 events, including a winter storm in March that caused property losses in 24 states estimated at $250 million.

The company's financial arm, Allstate Financial, produced net income of $4 million during the first quarter, compared to a net loss of $327 million in the 2009 quarter. Allstate said it continues to reduce expenses in the unit.

Also in the most recent quarter, property and liability premiums written remained flat at $6.26 billion.

Allstate's combined ratio for the quarter rose slightly to 98.9 percent from 96.8 percent in the same period in 2009.

Combined ratios measure the amount of money insurers pay out in claims and expenses compared with how much they receive from writing new business. A ratio above 100 means the insurer pays out more in claims and expenses than it takes in from writing new premiums.