Travelers posts 42% fall in quarterly profit

Jan 23 (Reuters) - Property and casualty insurer Travelers Cos Inc reported a 42 percent fall in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, hurt by catastrophe losses stemming from the California wildfires and a one-time charge due to the new federal tax law.

The Dow-30 company's pretax catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, more than tripled to $499 million from $137 million a year earlier.

Net income fell to $551 million, or $1.98 per share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, from $943 million, or $3.28 per share, a year earlier. The net income also included a charge of $129 million.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned $2.28 per share.

The insurer's revenue rose 3.6 percent to $7.45 billion.

(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)