EGI Financial reports net loss of $1.8 million in 2010 Q1

EGI Financial Holdings Inc. (TSX: EFH) reported a net loss of $1.8 million in 2010 Q1, marking a worsening from the net loss of $231,000 posted in 2009 Q1.
The insurer posted an underwriting loss of $5.8 million in the first quarter, marking an increase in loss from the underwriting loss of $1.9 million in 2009 Q1.
In the first three months of 2010, EGI reported an increase of 39.1% in direct written premiums (to $44 million) when compared to the same period of 2009.
The company attributed the improvement to “significant premium growth from both of the company’s Canadian divisions.”
Personal lines grew 26.6% as “signs of a hardening Ontario automobile insurance market continued, along with strong organic growth in other regions such as Nova Scotia,” an EGI release says.
Net earned premiums in the quarter decreased from $41.6 million in 2009 Q1 to $38.2 million in 2010 Q1.