State Auto Financial Discloses Catastrophe Losses

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — State Auto Financial Corp., a property and casualty insurance holding company, said Thursday that first-quarter 2009 earnings will include between $38 million and $42 million in pretax catastrophe losses related to January and February storms.

The company said ice and wind storms that hit its Midwest operating states have contributed significantly larger-than-normal losses to its first-quarter results.

Over the past five years, it has experienced an average of $12.4 million in pretax catastrophe losses during the first quarter. It reported $35 million in such losses in the first quarter of 2008....