Auto insurer Progressive reported a loss in income of $684 million for the third quarter fueled by losses from catastrophes and investments.

The Mayfield Village, Ohio-based company said it had net realized losses of $1.04 billion on investments that included $1.1 billion securities write down. The losses included $548 million on preferred stock in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Washington Mutual and Lehman Brothers.

Progressive reported it incurred an estimated $54.2 million of losses and loss adjusted expense from Hurricane Ike and $8.1 million related to Hurricane Gustav.

For the third quarter, income dropped $983 million for a total income loss of $684 million compared to net income of $299 million for the same period last year. Net premium written rose 1 percent, or $28 million, to $3.5 billion compared to $3.48 billion for the same period last year.

The insurer reported its combined ratio for the third quarter while still profitable had deteriorated by 1.4 points to 95.1.

For the month of September, income loss stood at $631 million, down $735 million, from last year's net income of $104 million.

Net premiums written were down slightly by two percent, or $16 million, for the month of September from last year to $1.02 billion.

The combined ratio in September was up 3.9 points to 98.7.

Progressive said it plans to hold a conference call to address questions on Nov. 12 at 9 a.m. eastern time. Registration for the conference and webcast will be available mid-October at http://investors.progressive.com/events.aspx.

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Progressive Net Income Thrown For $684M Loss

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