20th Century Earnings Down 19% in 3rd...

20th Century Earnings Down 19% in 3rd Quarter 20th Century Industries, the Woodland Hills insurance holding company, saw its earnings fall 19%, to $24.3 million, in the third quarter that ended Sept. 30.

A year earlier, the company had net income of $30.1 million.

For the nine months that ended Sept. 30, 20th Century’s profit was up 89%, to $81.9 million from $43.3 million in the same period a year before.

The company said that by the end of the third quarter it saw significant improvement in its auto insurance business, which has been steadily growing due to rate reductions and increased marketing efforts.

20th Century exited the homeowners insurance business after being hit with more than $1 billion in claims related to damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and has recently renewed its focus on auto insurance.