Two major bank-owned insurance brokers reported mixed first-quarter results.

BB&T says insurance revenues jumped 35 percent and Wells Fargo saw a decline of 11 percent.

Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T says first-quarter insurance revenues increased $94 million to $365 million, primarily on the life insurance wholesale business produced by Crump.

Insurance net income stood at $30 million, an increase of $7 million over the same period last year.

Crump contributed $78 million on insurance income in the quarter. The bank also benefited from organic growth in wholesale and retail P&C operations as prices continue to firm.

BB&T acquired Crump in April, so comparable results to past earnings are not valid. During a conference call with financial analysts, CEO Kelly S. King says that the division's results “are exceeding our expectations” and the 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 in the first quarter it would have added 2 percent to its growth rate. Both the wholesale and retail insurance businesses are experiencing improvement and the current single-digit overall increase trend in P&C insurance pricing will remain long term.

“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 reports first-quarter insurance services dropped $56 million to $463 million.

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 1Q net income of $5.2 billion, up 22 percent from the previous year on revenue of $21.3 billion.

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BB&T Revenues Up 35% in Q1; WellsFargo Insurance Services Down 11%

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