The acquisition of wholesale-broker Crump and the firminginsurance market lifted fourth-quarter income for BB&TInsurance Services by 43 percent, the Winston-Salem, N.C.-bankBB&T says.

BB&T Corp. says fourth-quarter insurance income earningswere up $108 million to $362 million. For the year, insuranceearnings rose 30 percent, or $315 million, to $1.36 billion.

The company says fourth-quarter net income for the segmentstood at $39 million, an increase of 56 percent, or $14 million,from the same in 2011. The company did not give a year endbreakdown of the segment's profit.

The increase was primarily due to the acquisition of Crump inApril, says BB&T, adding approximately $83 million in thequarter. Firming market conditions on the property and casualtyside also boosted revenues.

During a conference call with financial analysts, Kelly King,BB&T's chairman and chief executive officer, says the bank isnot sitting on its hands and complaining about the state of theeconomy. Instead, it is taking active measures to increase revenue.Among the initiatives, he mentioned the Crump acquisition, callingit “a huge opportunity” in a number of areas.

One area will be providing life-insurance services to otherlarge banks and financial-services companies that find doing thatbusiness in-house too complex.

“Frankly, it has gone extraordinarily well and it is a hugeopportunity for us,” says King.

With the acquisition of Crump, insurance now makes up 14 percentof overall revenue for BB&T.

BB&T Corp. reports fourth quarter net income of $549million, an increase of 37 percent from $400 million for the prioryear. Total revenue rose 5 percent, or $122 million, to $2.5billion.

For the year, net income rose 52 percent, or $696 million, to$2.03 billion. Revenues for the year stand at approximately $9.8billion, up 13 percent, or over $1 billion.

When asked about the future performance of the insurancesegment, Christopher L. Henson, chief operation officer, was highlyoptimistic of continued organic growth for the next three to fiveyears.

He says that unlike a hard market, with rapid increase inpremiums, pricing in the current insurance market is in a “slowermigration.”

Organic growth will continue to improve as prices increase, theeconomy improves, and the need for Crump services grow. He alsoexpects more cross selling internally to the bank's clients andincreases in contingent commissions.

“We think '13 will be really challenging, but our businesses arereally performing and so, given the economy, we believe we willhave another high-performance year in 2013,” says King.