Western Financial Group reports 88.1% profit increase

Western Financial Group (WFG)s Agency Network, the fourth largest property and casualty broker in Canada, has reported a 42.5% increase in profits for the first six months of 2007, overall WFG reported an increase in profits of 88.1% for the same period.
Revenue for the first half of 2007 for the Network were approximately Cdn$32.28 million, an increase from 2006s Cdn$22.65 million.
Throughout 2007 Q2, earnings were Cdn$17.74 million, marking a 39.7% increase over the same period of 2006, which saw profits of Cdn$12.69 million.
Earlier this month WFG announced that it had completed the acquisition of three more Alberta and British Columbia brokerages.
Acquisitions are cited in a company release as a contributing factor to WFGs increasing profits.
We had a strong first half of this year, and I am pleased that we continue to see our business units and our equity investments perform well ahead of the same period last year, Scott Tannas, president and CEO of WFG, said in a statement.
Our equity investments have enjoyed another outstanding quarter, and our Network same store sales indicator reached a new level of 8.1%.