NU Online News Service, July 22, 2:25 p.m.EDT

BB&T Corp. said its insurance brokerage unit produced recordrevenues in the quarter and its CEO said the brokerage is seeingsigns of hardening in the insurance marketplace.

The Winston-Salem, N.C.-based bank said its insurance brokerageoperations produced record revenues of $281 million in the quarter,up 19 percent, or $44 million, compared to the same period lastyear.

The company attributed the increase in performance primarily togrowth in property and casualty, credit and employee benefitinsurance commissions, including growth from acquisitions.

During a conference call on Friday with analysts, Kelly S. King,BB&T's president and chief executive officer, said that whilethe insurance brokerage side's performance was helped byacquisitions, revenues were also up 3.5 percent for existingoffices.

He called the results "impressive," adding that the brokeragearm is "obviously moving market share"--an added accomplishment ina soft market. Mr. King observed that the markets are beginning toshow signs of hardening, especially on the wholesale side.

The bank as a whole reported net income of $208 million, down$223 million, or 52 percent, from the same period last year in thequarter. For the six months, net income came in at $526 million,down 39 percent, or $334 million.

The results were affected by a special assessment from theFederal Deposit Insurance Corp. and repayment to the U.S. TreasuryDepartment of its loan from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

"We are very, very pleased" with the results of the bank inlight of the challenging economy, Mr. Kelly said.