Business

Universal Insurance profit rises 24%; company still to seek rate hike

BY RON HURTIBISE

Sun Sentinel
Asked by an analyst on the company’s earnings call Wednesday whether management plans to seek rate increases this year, Universal chairman and CEO Sean P. Downes said the company was almost done calculating what to submit to state regulators: “Things could change here in a week or two but I believe we’ll be filing for some mid-range single-digit increase sometime next month.”
Asked by an analyst on the company’s earnings call Wednesday whether management plans to seek rate increases this year, Universal chairman and CEO Sean P. Downes said the company was almost done calculating what to submit to state regulators: “Things could change here in a week or two but I believe we’ll be filing for some mid-range single-digit increase sometime next month.” Richard Sheinwald Bloomberg News

Fort Lauderdale-based Universal Insurance Holdings reported a 23.7-percent increase in its net income for the first quarter of 2017, yet still plans to seek rate increases for its policyholders this year.

Universal’s earnings per share increased by 21.7 percent to 86 cents, the company said in its latest earnings report. The improvement was driven by increases in “every major revenue category,” efforts to keep expenses low, and a lower tax rate compared to a year earlier, the report said.

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This story was originally published April 25, 2017 at 10:02 PM with the headline "Universal Insurance profit rises 24%; company still to seek rate hike."

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