INDUSTRY SEES 1ST 9-MONTH PROFIT SINCE 1986:

Benefiting from profits on underwriting, the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry’s net income after taxes rose 28.3 percent to $26.7 billion in the first nine months of 2004, up from $20.8 billion in the first nine months of 2003. Reflecting the growth in the industry’s income, its surplus, or statutory net worth, increased $22 billion, or 6.3 percent, to $369 billion at Sept. 30 of this year, up from $347 billion at year-end 2003, according to the Insurance Services Office and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. The industry’s surplus as of Sept. 30 would have been a record if not for inflation, but surplus remained 5.2 percent below its inflation-adjusted peak of $389.1 billion at June 30, 1998. ISO said it was the industry’s best nine-month showing since at least 1986, when the group began tracking quarterly results. The industry’s nine-month combined ratio improved 2.4 percentage points to 97.9 percent, down from 100.3 percent for the 2003 period.