Progressive Corp. said its second-quarter earnings showed a 2 percent rise over last year's comparable figure for the auto insurer.
The Mayfield, Ohio-based company reported second-quarter net earnings of $400 million compared to $394 million in the second quarter of last year.
Most of the other figures showed similar marginal improvement.
Net premiums earned rose 3 percent to $3.4 billion, while the combined ratio remained virtually flat at 86.
Bear Stearns property-casualty analyst David Small said the earnings of 53 cents a share were what his firm expected.
“Premium growth continues to slow. However, it does appear to have backed off the price lever, as premium per policy was flat year over year in the quarter,” he wrote.
While a stable quarterly accident-year loss ratio bodes well for the year, the fact that prior-year development continues to slow could make it difficult for the company to surpass estimates in the future, Mr. Small added.
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