NU Online News Service, April 21, 10:19 a.m. EDT
Insurance broker BB&T Insurance Services said its first-quarter revenue grew by 19 percent, helped by a combination of acquisitions and new market activity, according to the company's chief executive.
BB&T Insurance, a subsidiary of the Winston-Salem, N.C.-bank BB&T Corp., reported revenues for the first quarter of this year rose $40 million from the comparable period last year. Revenues rose from $212 million to $252 million this year.
BB&T Corp. as a whole reported net income of $318 million, a drop of 26 percent from last year's $429 million for the first quarter. Earnings per share dropped 30 cents a share to 48 cents.
During a conference call with financial analysts on Friday, Kelly S. King, president and chief executive officer for BB&T Corp., said the primary driver for the increase was acquisitions, especially two "really good purchases" that occurred near the end of last year.
He said the broker has also picked up market share and that same store sales were up 3 percent in the quarter from the same period last year, despite the fact that pricing is still at negative 15 percent overall.
When asked how to gauge the insurance market, Mr. King said, "We're still trying to figure that out right now."
He said market pricing appears to be improving from its prolonged soft market trend. This positive prognosis does not mean the brokerage will change its conservative acquisition strategy, he said.
Mr. King said the results, though down, were better than some other banks have reported.
He said the company has reduced its workforce, accounting for $11 million in severance costs.
Mr. King said there are some signs of stabilization in the housing market, as some markets appear to be selling homes again. Florida, which has been hit the worst by the economic crisis, remains spotty, he said, "but in the aggregate, it is not in free-fall like it was before."
"Everyone is beginning to see some green shoots, but we're not through [the economic crisis] yet," he said.
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