NEW YORK (Reuters) - Allstate Corp <ALL.N>, the largest publicly traded U.S. home insurer, said on Tuesday that net income fell 37.3 percent in the fourth quarter, hurt by higher catastrophe losses.

Allstate said net earnings were $760 million, or $1.36 a share, down from $1.21 billion or $1.93 a share in the year earlier quarter.

Operating income, which excludes investment gains and losses, was $701 million, or $1.24 a share in the fourth quarter, compared with $1.12 billion, or $1.78 a share in the same quarter the prior year.

In December, Allstate warned that catastrophe losses for the fourth quarter could run as high as $400 million and would hurt fourth quarter net income.

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(Reporting by Ed Leefeldt; Editing by Andre Grenon)