Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Basis of Presentation [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

1. Basis of Presentation

Loews Corporation is a holding company. Its consolidated subsidiaries are engaged in the following lines of business: commercial property and casualty insurance (CNA Financial Corporation (“CNA”), an 89.5% owned subsidiary); transportation and storage of natural gas and natural gas liquids (Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (“Boardwalk Pipelines”), a wholly owned subsidiary); the operation of a chain of hotels (Loews Hotels Holding Corporation (“Loews Hotels & Co”), a wholly owned subsidiary); and the manufacture of rigid plastic packaging solutions (Altium Packaging LLC (“Altium Packaging”), a 99% owned subsidiary). Unless the context otherwise requires, the term “Company” as used herein means Loews Corporation including its consolidated subsidiaries, the term “Net income (loss) attributable to Loews Corporation” as used herein means Net income (loss) attributable to Loews Corporation shareholders and the term “subsidiaries” means Loews Corporation’s consolidated subsidiaries.

On April 1, 2021, Loews Corporation sold 47% of its interest in Altium Packaging. See Note 2 for further discussion.

As a result of the April 26, 2020 bankruptcy filing of Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (“Diamond Offshore”) and certain of its subsidiaries and applicable accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”), Diamond Offshore was deconsolidated from Loews Corporation’s consolidated financial statements in the second quarter of 2020. Loews Corporation’s operating results for the first quarter of 2020 include the operations of Diamond Offshore. During the first quarter of 2020, Diamond Offshore recorded an aggregate asset impairment charge of $774 million ($408 million after tax and noncontrolling interests), which is reported within Operating expenses and other on the Consolidated Condensed Statements of Operations. For additional information regarding the deconsolidation of Diamond Offshore and the Diamond Offshore asset impairments, see Notes 2 and 6 of the Consolidated Financial Statements in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements reflect all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) necessary to present fairly the Company’s financial position as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 and results of operations, comprehensive loss and changes in shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020. Net income (loss) for the first quarter of each of the years is not necessarily indicative of net income (loss) for that entire year. These Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.

The Company presents basic and diluted net income (loss) per share on the Consolidated Condensed Statements of Operations. Basic net income (loss) per share excludes dilution and is computed by dividing net income (loss) attributable to common stock by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted net income per share reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised or converted into common stock. For the three months ended March 31, 2021 there were no shares attributable to employee stock-based compensation awards excluded from the diluted weighted average shares outstanding amounts because the effect would have been antidilutive.

Recently issued ASUs – In August of 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2018-12, “Financial Services – Insurance (Topic 944): Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts.” The updated accounting guidance requires changes to the measurement and disclosure of long-duration contracts. The guidance requires entities to update annually cash flow assumptions, including morbidity and persistency, and update quarterly discount rate assumptions using an upper-medium grade fixed-income instrument yield. The effect of changes in cash flow assumptions will be recorded in Net income and the effect of changes in discount rate assumptions will be recorded in Other comprehensive income (“OCI”). This guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2022, with early adoption permitted. The guidance may be applied using either a modified retrospective transition method or a full retrospective transition method. The guidance requires restatement of prior periods presented. The Company plans to adopt on the effective date, using the modified retrospective transition method and is currently evaluating the effect the updated guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements, including the increased disclosure requirements. The annual updating of cash flow assumptions is expected to increase income statement volatility. While the requirements of the new guidance represent a material change from existing accounting guidance, the underlying economics of the business and related cash flows will be unchanged.