Ohio Casualty Reports Lower Profits But Beats Street Estimates

Ohio Casualty Corp. reported lower quarterly profit as it took lower gains from investments, but it beat analysts’ forecasts as premium prices rose.

The Fairfield, Ohio-based property/casualty insurer reported fourth-quarter profit of $29.1 million, or 48 cents a share. That’s compared with $41.8 million, or 69 cents a share, in the fourth quarter of 2001.

Excluding realized gains, it reported 28 cents a share operating profit. Wall Street expected 20 cents a share, according to analysts polled by research firm Thomson First Call.

Ohio Casualty shares rose 87 cents, or 7 percent, to $12.95 in Nasdaq trading.

Net fourth-quarter premiums for all lines were $347.8 million, 1.2 percent better than the $343.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2001. But for the year, premiums were down 1.6 percent from about $1.47 billion in 2001 to about $1.45 billion in 2002.

In other news, Howard L. Sloneker III will not seek re-election as a member of the company’s board of directors. He’ll step down at the corporation’s annual shareholders meeting April 16.

Topics Profit Loss Ohio Casualty