NU Online News Service, April 19, 1:24 p.m.EDT

Daytona Beach, Fla.-based insurance broker Brown & Brownsays first quarter net income rose 7 percent over last year as thefirm reported increases in commissions and fees and benefited froma one-time court settlement.

Brown & Brown reports first quarter 2012 net income roseclose to 7 percent, or $3 million, to $49 million. That translatesinto earnings per share of 34 cents, up 2 cents from the sameperiod last year. Revenues increased 15 percent, or $40 million, to$302 million.

J. Hyatt Brown, chairman, acting president and chief executiveofficer calls the results “better than anticipated” in astatement.

One positive sign of improvement was the rise in organic growthrate in commissions and fee revenue by close to 1 percent.

Except for the broker's retail segment, all other segmentsshowed growth ranging from more than 5 percent in wholesalebrokerage and services to less than 1 percent in its retailbusiness.

During a conference call with investment analysts on Tuesday,Brown described a marketplace of overall increase in premium pricesthroughout the country, with only a few geographic locationsshowing rates flat or going down in specific markets.

Property is moving up 5-25 percent in the wholesale side of thebusiness for coastal property exposures as the RMS Version 11 modelcontinues to influence probably maximum loss estimates upward.

Workers compensation is also on the increase throughout much ofthe country with little exception, he says.

He notes that on the personal insurance side, which accounts fora substantial amount of the firm's business, the market is seeingincreases. Homeowners is moving up 2-5 percent depending on theregion of the country, says Brown. Auto, however, is flat to down,again depending on the region of the country.

Making a general observation, he says that “for the first timethere is consistent and constant pressure in many areas of the U.S.to increase property rates and, consistently, workers compensationis going up.”

He says the firm is becoming more confident about an upturn inthe market as insurers appear to be sticking to increasing ratesslowly and the economy shows signs of improvement.

Brown also says that J. Powell Brown, president and CEO will bereturning to the office this week after stepping down temporarily for health reasons in January.

Hyatt Brown says he expects Powell Brown to resume his dutiessoon.