Progressive’s Profit Doubled in February

The fourth-largest U.S. auto insurer, Progressive Corp., said profit more than doubled in February on falling claims costs and investment gains.

Published on March 11, 2009

Monthly net income of $125.7 million, or 19 cents a share, compares with $46.2 million, or 7 cents, in the same period a year earlier, the Mayfield Village, Ohio-based company said in a statement today. Excluding a pretax investment gain of $43.2 million, the insurer earned about 15 cents a share in February.

Progressive, alone among the largest insurers in reporting monthly data, said unrealized investment losses were $249.2 million for the month. Such losses are monitored by ratings firms to gauge an insurer’s financial strength and don’t count against earnings.

Consumers with Progressive policies increased 4 percent from the same month a year earlier. The number of people who bought coverage for their cars through an agent rose 1.1 percent from January.