Two bank-owned insurance brokers reported mixed first quarterresults, with BB&T increasing revenues by 35 percent and WellsFargo experiencing an 11 percent decline.

Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T says Q1 insurance revenuesincreased by $94 million compared to the same period a year ago to$365 million, due primarily to the life insurance wholesalebusiness produced by Crump.

BB&T acquired Crump in April, and Crump contributed $78million to insurance income in the quarter.

Overall insurance net income stood at $30 million, an increaseof $7 million over the 2012 first quarter.

The bank benefited from organic growth in wholesale and retailP&C operations as prices continued to firm.

During a conference call with financial analysts, CEO Kelly S.King said the division's results “are exceeding our expectations”and life sales have “a lot of future opportunity.”

Chief Operating Officer Christopher L. Henson notes P&Corganic growth is close to 6 percent and if it had owned Crumpduring the first quarter, it would have added 2 percent to itsgrowth rate. Both the wholesale and retail insurance businesses areexperiencing improvement and BB&T expects the current singledigit overall P&C rate increases to continue.

“We think it's going to be here for several years,” saysHenson.

Overall, BB&T says net income dropped 43 percent to $256million because of a one-time disputed tax adjustment of $281million. Without the adjustment net income would have stood at $491million.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo says Q1 insurance services fellby $56 million to $463 million compared to the 2012 firstquarter.

A company spokeswoman says the primary driver of the revenuedecrease was lower commodity prices in its crop insurance company,Rural Community Insurance Services, and the discontinuation oflender-placed insurance commissions. Its insurance brokerage andconsulting business continues to grow, but the company did notprovide additional breakdown of revenues.

Wells Fargo bank reported Q1 net income of $5.2 billion, up 22percent from the previous year on revenue of $21.3 billion.