Overseas operations and domestic life operations contributed to a solid increase in earnings at Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. during the third quarter.[@@]
Hartford Financial, Hartford, is reporting $539 million in net income on $7.3 billion in revenue for the latest quarter, up from $494 million in net income on $5.4 billion in revenue for the third quarter of 2004.
Brian Meredith, a securities analyst at a unit of Bank of America Corp., Charlotte, N.C., says the company's $1.82 per share profit beat the analysts' consensus of $1.60 while the company's operating earnings of $368 million for life insurance exceeded his estimate by $31 million.
"The upside was driven by earnings from the company's Japan operation, as well as stronger than expected individual life earnings," Meredith writes.