Optimum General produces first-quarter profit

Montreal-based Optimum General Inc. (TSX: OGI.A) is reporting net income of $259,000 ($0.02 per share) for the first quarter ending March 31, 2004, compared to a net loss of $291,000 ($0.02 per share) for the same period a year ago.Gross written premiums were up 3.5% for the comparative period, to $30.9 million from $29.7 million the year prior, on the back of rate increases. Net earned premiums were up slightly to $25.4 million from $25.2 million during the same time.The company’s combined ratio for the most recent quarter was 102.7%, down from 106.0% the year earlier. This comes from a drop in the claims ratio to 61.4% from 63.1%, plus a 1.5% drop in the company’s expense ratio.The overall underwriting loss for first quarter 2004 is $609,000, compared to a loss of $1.5 million the year prior. And the company’s investment income was relatively stagnant, at $935,000 in the first quarter, versus $1.0 million a year ago, the result of lower interest rates and some capital losses.”We are pleased to see positive results for the first quarter, which is traditionally a difficult quarter for the industry” says Optimum president and COO David Liddle. “It is encouraging to have had four consecutive quarters of net income and to see a continuation of the downward trend in both loss ratio and expense ratio.”