NU Online News Service, April 21, 2004, 5:33 p.m. EDT – Sales of funding agreements helped The Allstate Corp., Northbrook, Ill., improve its first-quarter profits.[@@]
The multiline insurer is reporting $949 million in net income for the quarter on $8.3 billion in revenue, up from $665 million in net income on $7.9 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2003.
Allstate Financial, a company unit that sells life insurance, annuities and institutional investment products, generated $132 million in operating income on $1.3 billion in revenue, up from $82 million in operating income on $1.4 billion in revenue. Despite the decrease in revenue, premiums and deposits increased 38%, to $3.5 billion.
Operating results for Allstate Financial exclude a $175 million charge for a change in accounting rules. Because of the charge, the unit is reporting a $73 million net loss for the first quarter, compared with $50 million in net income for the comparable quarter in 2003.
