Mercury General Sees 1Q Profit, Beats Street

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mercury General Corp., which provides automobile, homeowners and commercial property insurance, on Monday reported a first-quarter profit, reversing a year-ago loss, helped by investment gains even as written premiums declined and the company cut 7 percent of its work force.

The results beat Wall Street estimates.

Quarterly profit at the Los Angeles-based company totaled $96.7 million, or $1.75 per share, compared with year-ago loss of $4 million, or 7 cents per share. The latest period includes investment gains of $50.7 million, or 92 cents per share, compared with losses of $59.9 million, or $1.09 per share, in the 2008 period. ...