Kingstone Swings to Profit in First Quarter

Upstate New York insurer Kingstone Cos. Inc., posted a $259,000 profit in the first quarter of 2010 — a positive change from the $171,000 loss it saw in the year-ago period.

The insurer — which was launched last year through a merger of Commercial Mutual Insurance Co. and the former DCAP Group, an agency franchiser — said March storms cost about $250,000, which added over 11.3 percentage points to its net loss ratio.

Kingstone said that, despite the storms, its combined ratio was 62.6.