Feb 5 (Reuters) - Property and casualty insurer

Allstate's ( ALL ) fourth-quarter profit beat Wall Street

expectations on Wednesday, helped by strong gains in its

underwriting business and higher returns on its investments.

Insurance spending has shown resilience as businesses and

individuals continue to prioritize coverage to mitigate risks

ranging from natural disasters to health emergencies.

Allstate's ( ALL ) consolidated premiums written for the quarter

rose 8.8% to $15.06 billion.

The insurer's net investment income also surged, driven by

higher returns from its fixed-income securities portfolio.

Insurers typically invest a portion of their cash across

asset classes such as fixed-income securities.

Northbrook, Illinois-based Allstate's ( ALL ) net investment income

jumped to $833 million in the fourth quarter from $604 million a

year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned $2.06 billion, or

$7.67 per share, compared with the average analyst estimate of

$6.30 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Allstate's ( ALL ) underlying combined ratio was 83% in the reported

quarter, compared with 86.9% a year earlier. A ratio below 100%

means the insurer earned more in premiums than it paid out in

claims.

Last week, the company struck a $1.25 billion deal to sell

its group health business to insurer Nationwide.

Allstate ( ALL ) said it expected losses related to the California

fires to be about $1.1 billion, pre-tax, net of reinsurance.

Analysts had expected the insured losses from the California

wildfires to be confined mostly to homeowners' insurance

businesses at Allstate ( ALL ), Travelers and Chubb.

Last month, catastrophe risk modeling firm KCC estimated

that insured losses from the Los Angeles wildfires could be

about $28 billion, making them the costliest wildfires in U.S.

history.

Rival insurer Chubb said last week it expects a

pre-tax net cost of $1.5 billion from the California fires.