Winston Salem, N.C.-based bank BB&T Corporation reported commissions from its insurance brokerage business grew 9 percent in last year's fourth quarter compared to 2005.

Reporting its fourth-quarter results, BB&T said commissions grew to $214.5 million from $197.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The increase was due to the growth in commissions from the sale of property-casualty coverage and improved sales of employee benefits-related insurance products, the company said.

For the company as a whole, BB&T reported fourth-quarter net income of $251 million, or 46 cents per share, compared with $430 million or 78 cents a share in 2005.

The quarter was negatively affected by a $139 million after-tax charge for additional tax reserves related to leveraged lease transactions; $47 million in after-tax losses from restructuring of a portion of its securities portfolio; $6 million in net after-tax merger-related charges; and $7 million in after-tax equity-based compensation.

Excluding these items, BB&T said earnings would have totaled $449 million, or 82 cents a share.

For the full year 2006, BB&T's net income was $1.53 billion compared with $1.65 billion in 2005. Earnings per share for 2006 totaled $2.81, a decrease of 6.3 percent compared with $3 earned in 2005.

Excluding net after-tax merger-related charges or credits, equity-based compensation and nonrecurring items from 2006 and 2005, operating earnings for 2006 totaled $1.74 billion, an increase of more than 4 percent compared with operating earnings of $1.67 billion in 2005.

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BB&T Reports Insurance Segment Grew 9%

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