NEW YORK (Reuters) ? St. Paul Travelers Cos. Inc., one of the largest US property and casualty insurers, yesterday said third-quarter earnings soared more than six-fold, helped by the lack of any major catastrophes.

St. Paul, which also raised its full-year earnings outlook, is the latest insurer to reap big benefits from this year?s quiet hurricane season, which resulted in a steep decline in catastrophic losses compared with last year.

?(This) company is hitting on all cylinders,? said Deutsche Bank analyst Alain Karaoglan in a report on Thursday.

The insurer?s shares jumped 3.7 percent in New York Stock Exchange midmorning trading to $50.40 after trading as high as $50.65.

The St. Paul, Minnesota-based company reported net income of $1.04 billion, or $1.47 per share, compared with $162 million, or 23 cents per share, a year earlier, when hurricanes Katrina and Rita cut into profits.

St. Paul ?will set the tone for higher (industry) profits this third quarter compared with the third quarter of 2005,? said Will Retzer, an analyst with SNL Financial. ?I would expect most of the other property and casualty insurers are going to be straight in line with this, back to their pre-Katrina earnings levels.?

St. Paul, which has been using the ?Travelers? name in its recent ads, said operating earnings rose to $1.04 billion, or $1.46 a share, from $50 million, or seven cents a share.

Analysts use operating earnings to measure performance because it excludes investment income and losses.

Excluding one-time items including $6 million in net realised investment gains, an after-tax benefit of $55 million for favourable prior-year reserve development and an after-tax benefit of $43 million from the re-estimation of loss ratios, St. Paul earned $1.31 a share.

That beat analysts? forecast of $1.28 a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

St. Paul also raised its forecast for full-year earnings to between $5.50 and $5.65 a share from a previous range of $4.90 to $5.10.