Insurer Principal Financial's profit rises on higher premiums, investment income

Principal Financial

25/04/2024 23:15

April 25 (Reuters) - Principal Financial Group  PFG.O 
reported a rise in its first-quarter profit on Thursday, helped
by higher premiums and income from investments.
    Wage growth and a tight labor market have ensured job
security, while heightened expectations of a soft landing have
boosted confidence among businesses, allowing them to revive
spending on insurance policies.
    Premium and fees from PFG's specialty benefits business,
which provides employee benefit plans to small- and mid-sized
businesses, rose 8% to $801.3 million in the quarter ended March
31.
    A higher-for-longer interest rate environment maintained by
the U.S. Federal Reserve has also helped insurers rake in more
from fixed-income investments.
    PFG's first-quarter net investment income came in at $1.07
billion, compared with $986.7 million a year earlier.
    Adjusted operating earnings were $394.3 million, or $1.65
per share, in the January-March quarter versus $366.8 million,
or $1.48 per share, a year ago.
    The Des Moines, Iowa-based company's assets under management
rose 7% to $708.5 billion.

 (Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi
Majumdar)
 ((Pritam.Biswas@thomsonreuters.com))