Infinity Property Casualty Posts Higher Income

Infinity Property Casualty Posts Higher Income

NU Online News Service, Oct. 27, 11:33 a.m. EDT?Infinity Property and Casualty Corporation reported third-quarter net income increased 53 percent, rising to $23 million compared with $15 million for the period in 2003.[@@]

For the first nine months of this year, the Birmingham, Ala.-based auto insurer reported net earnings of $64.7 million compared with $38.8 million for the same period in 2003.

Infinity said its combined ratio in the third quarter was 90, compared to 92 in the third quarter of 2003. For the first nine months of 2004, the combined ratio was 89.9 percent, compared to the 92.8 percent in the first nine months of 2003.

Underwriting income for Infinity was $22 million in the third quarter and $65.5 million during the first nine months of 2004. A year ago the insurer reported $13.8 million of underwriting income in the third quarter and $36.3 million for the first nine months of 2003.

Third-quarter catastrophe losses were slightly higher than last year's?the losses were $1.9 million, including $2.2 million from the four hurricanes and a $300,000 release of excess reserves on catastrophes from prior periods. Catastrophe losses for the 2003 third quarter were $400,000.

Net written premiums for the third quarter were $222.1 million, down slightly from $226.6 million reported for the same period in 2003. Net written premiums for the first nine months of 2004 were $682.9 million, a 9.7 percent jump over the $622.8 million in net premiums for the first nine months of 2003.