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

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

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

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

The bank benefited from organic growth in wholesale and retail P&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&C organic growth is close to 6 percent and if it had owned Crump during the first quarter, it would have added 2 percent to its growth rate. Both the wholesale and retail insurance businesses are experiencing improvement and BB&T expects the current single digit overall P&C rate increases to continue.

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

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

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo says Q1 insurance services fell by $56 million to $463 million compared to the 2012 first quarter.

A company spokeswoman says the primary driver of the revenue decrease was lower commodity prices in its crop insurance company, Rural Community Insurance Services, and the discontinuation of lender-placed insurance commissions. Its insurance brokerage and consulting business continues to grow, but the company did not provide additional breakdown of revenues.

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

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Bank-owned Brokerages Report Mixed Q1 Results

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