Progressive’s Income Jumps as Insurer Adds More Policies [Video]

Shares of Progressive (PGR) gained Friday after the insurance provider posted a more-than-fivefold increase in net income after adding more policies.

In its March monthly update, the company reported first-quarter net income of $2.33 billion, more than five times its net income from the same period a year ago. Earnings per share (EPS) came in at $3.94, beating estimates. Revenue was up 20.1% to $17.24 billion, although that was short of forecasts.

Net premiums written increased 17.7% to $18.96 billion, and net premiums earned rose 19% to $16.15 billion. Policies in force gained 7.1% to $30.83 billion.

Progressive had a combined ratio—a measure of profitability used by insurance companies that is calculated by taking the sum of incurred losses and expenses and dividing that by the earned premium—of 86.1, a drop from 99.0 the year-earlier quarter. In March, the company’s combined ratio fell to 84.3 from 106.2 in March 2023, mainly because of costs to cover storms in the month …