Cincinnati Financial reverses year-ago loss - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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The insurer reported net incomeof $35 million, or 22 centes per share, compared to a net loss of $42 or 26 cents per share, in first-quartetr 2008. Analysts, on average, had expected 28 centsx per share. Total revenues were up 26.5 to $890 million from $704 million a year ago, matchintg the Wall Street The company's loss in the first quarted of 2008 was a result of impairmenf charges totaling morethan $200 millioj triggered by the decline in several large holdings in its equity investment portfolio.
Excluding net realized investmengt loses inboth periods, operating income from insurance operations dropped 66 perceny to $37 million, or 23 centss per share in the latest quarter, compared with $109 or 66 cents, in the same period in 2008. In the same quarterd in 2007, operating income was $153 or 88 cents per share. Catastrophe losses and strengtheningof workers’ compensation reserves took a 29 centz per share bite out of first-quarter Cincinnati Financial said in a news release. Investmenf income contributed 59 cents per shares to net income versus 74 centasin first-quarter 2008.
Kenneth Stecher, presidentr and CEO, said in the released that soft pricing had an impact onthe quarter’sa profits, along with high losses from winter The combined ratio for the firm’s property/casualty operations rose to 107.5 percentt from 98.6 percent in the year-agpo quarter. “We expect unfavorable economic, investment and insuranced pricing trends to continuer over thecoming months, dampening 2009 results and maskinfg the positive impact of progress on our strategicd initiatives – which are clearly not in a holdin g pattern,” Stecher said.
Cincinnati Financial has reduced its investments in equity markets for theshortt term, and is focusing more on purchasing taxable and municipal bonds, Stecher said. "Ww intend to continue to include common stockes as a key component of ourinvesting strategy," he Shares of Cincinnati Financial CINF) lost 5 percent, or $1.38, to $24.1r in Thursday afternoon trading. Cincinnatj Financial, headquartered in Fairfield, offers commercial, personal, and life insurancse products in theUnitexd States.