Auto insurer Progressive Corp. said today that its net income for August was down 43 percent and it expects losses of $119.5 million related to Hurricane Katrina.
The company said that net income declined by $43.5 million to $56.8 million (29 cents a share), compared with last August's results. It said net premiums written in August were basically flat at $1.09 billion.
The combined ratio for the period, Progressive reported, worsened by 7.1 points, rising to 96.3.
As of Wednesday, Progressive said it had processed 19,000 Hurricane Katrina claims==about 5 percent from Louisiana and 70 percent from Florida. The company had delayed Wednesday's release of results so it could assess Katrina losses. It said its latest estimate is incomplete.
In August, the insurer wrote nearly $1.1 billion in net premiums. Net premiums earned increased 6 percent to $1.1 billion from $1 billion in 2004. Meanwhile, monthly net income slid 43 percent to $56.8 million (29 cents per share) from $100.3 million (or 46 cents per share).
Progressive, in addition to auto coverage, offers directors' and officers, auto lenders and employee misconduct insurance.
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