NU Online News Service, April 20, 4:07 p.m.EDT

Brown & Brown reported first quarter profit for 2010 wasdown 8 percent as the recession continued to take a toll oninsurance buying.

The Daytona Beach, Fla.-based insurance broker reported firstquarter net income of $44 million, down $3.9 million from the sameperiod last year. Earnings per share were off 3 cents to 31 cents ashare.

Revenues during the period dropped 4 percent, or $11 million, to$252 million. The drop was due to a 5 percent decline in commissionand fees, or $13 million, to $251 million.

Organic growth continued to show negative results, coming in atnegative 8.6 percent.

On a positive note, the firm reported cash and cash equivalentsincreased 16 percent, or close to $32 million to $229 million.

Jim W. Henderson, vice chairman and chief operating officer forBrown & Brown said in a statement that the firm continues toaggregate cash "at record levels" and remains committed to itsacquisition strategy in order to grow revenue. He added thatimprovements in the economy would improve the merger andacquisition environment in the future.

During a conference call with financial analysts, J. PowellBrown, president and chief executive officer, noted that thecontinued fallout from the recession is having a negative impact onthe company's earnings as middle market buyers of insurancecontinue to purchase less coverage. He noted that there are pocketsof improvement, but those pockets are typically to be found incities and not across a region of the country.

Of the three retail groups the company detailed (Florida,National and Western) only National showed any increase incommissions and fees, growing a tiny 0.6 percent or $431, 00, to$78 million. Western stood at negative 12 percent, or $3 million,to $22 million. Florida was at almost negative 7 percent, downclose to $3 million, to $37 million.

In a review of rates, Mr. Brown and Jim W. Henderson, vicechairman and chief operating officer, said rates for virtually alllines of business were flat to down as much as 20 percent,depending on the line of business and region of the county.

While employee benefits saw increases from 5 to as much as 20percent from medical insurance, the increase was offset by a dropin the number of lives covered, said Mr. Brown.

"We feel good about our business, the results just haven'tmaterialized because of the economic impacts," said Mr. Brown. "Weknow Florida will come back, just like the rest of the country; itjust might take a little longer."