Crawford reports Q4 results

Crawford & Company has reported a 2006 Q4 loss of US$1.3 million, compared with a profit of US$6.0 million in 2005 Q4.Net income for the 2006 year was US$15 million, compared with US$12.9 million reported in 2005. The net loss in the 2006 fourth quarter included a charge of $1.9 million, net of related income taxes as a result of restructuring activities from the company’s recent acquisition of Broadspire Management Services, Inc. and the associated refinancing of the company’s agreements.Revenues associated with the Broadspire Management Services, Inc. acquisition totaled US$33.1 million in the 2006 fourth quarter. Excluding the impact of acquisitions, the company’s former CIS business’s revenues declined slightly during the 2006 fourth quarter due primarily to a reduction in claim referrals from the company’s existing clients, partially offset by net new business gains.Mr. Thomas W. Crawford, chief executive officer of Crawford & Company, stated, “Our fourth quarter 2006 operating results reflected a continued solid performance by our legal settlement administration segment, which posted strong results even when compared to last year’s record fourth quarter. Our international operations also had a very good quarter, producing quarterly records for both revenues and operating earnings. These international results are primarily due to continued strong performance in our United Kingdom operations and improved operating results in the Latin American region. Results in these segments were partially offset by declines within our U.S. property and casualty business, where we experienced a sharp downturn in claim referrals as a result of the mild weather and the lack of catastrophic claims activity in the 2006 third and fourth quarters, and declines in our former Crawford Integrated Services division