Horace Mann’s Q2 Nets $18.9 Million

Springfield, Ill.-based educators’ insurer Horace Mann Educators Corp. reported net income of $18.9 million (44 cents per share) and $40.6 million (95 cents per share), respectively, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2004, compared to net income of $2.1 million (5 cents per share) and $10.2 million (24 cents per share) for the same periods in 2003.

“Horace Mann followed a strong first quarter of 2004 with another solid performance in the second quarter,” said Louis G. Lower II, president and CEO. “Our underlying property and casualty results continued to gain traction, benefiting from additional underwriting and pricing actions taken over the last several quarters, ongoing improvements in claims processes, and cost containment initiatives. Our property and casualty results this year have also been helped by the absence of adverse prior years’ reserve development and by the relatively low level of catastrophe losses and claim frequencies enjoyed by the industry as a whole,” Lower added.

Net income for the property/casualty segment improved $19.7 million for the quarter and $26.2 million for the six months compared to the year earlier periods due primarily to the factors cited above, according to a statement released by the company.

Horace Mann’s career agency force totaled 805 agents at June 30, 2004. “Though the agency force is smaller than it was a year ago, the number of experienced agents has increased, average agent productivity is up 24 percent compared to the first half of 2003, and career agent annualized new sales increased 17 percent for both the quarter and six months,” Lower said.

Horace Mann — the largest national multiline insurance company focusing on educators’ financial needs — provides retirement annuities, life insurance, property/casualty insurance, and other financial solutions.

Topics Property Casualty