Mercury General Corp.’s net premiums written for the third quarter rose 3.4 percent to more than $684 million, the Los Angeles, Calif.-based company reported on Monday.
Mercury reported third-quarter net income of $66.2 million, or $1.21 per share, compared with a net loss of $3.78 million, or 7 cents per share, a year ago.
Operating income per share fell to 62 cents from 72 last year, and total revenues for the quarter climbed to $731.78 million from $615.74 million the year prior.
“We are pleased to report 3.4 percent quarterly net written premium growth, which represents our seventh consecutive quarter of net written premium growth and our highest growth rate during that period,” Mercury CEO and President Gabe Tirador said in a statement. “California new business private passenger automobile policy sales increased year over year in the quarter by 20 percent. The company is currently profitable in a number of states and has been actively addressing profitability through a combination of rate and underwriting changes and cost management initiatives. In California, our largest state, the company implemented an approximately 4 percent rate increase for its personal automobile insurance line of business effective for new and renewal policies beginning Oct. 26, 2012.”
The board of directors also declared a quarterly dividend of 61 cents per share to be paid on Dec. 27 to shareholders of record on Dec. 13.
Topics California Trends Pricing Trends
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