Progressive Insurance Corp. posted a 14 percent decline in net income for April.
The Mayfield, Ohio-based personal lines carrier reported $136.7 million of net income, or 19 cents per share, compared to $159.6 million, or 20 cents per share, for the same period last year.
The combined ratio for the month rose three points to 88.8, while net premiums earned came in at $1.35 billion, compared to $1.37 billion in April of last year.
Personal lines policies in force rose 1 percent to 7 million, while special lines policies climbed 7 percent and commercial auto policies rose 6 percent.
Bear Stearns property casualty analyst David Small said the results showed top line growth remains difficult to achieve in the near term with the competition that exists in the auto market.
The results also showed a disappointing increase in adverse development, stemming from "larger personal auto claims."
Mr. Small said this differs from reports from Allstate in the first quarter, when the carrier reported "fairly benign severity."
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.