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UPDATE 1-State Auto Financial posts Q4 loss

Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:53am EST

Stocks

   

* Q4 oper EPS $0.53 misses est of $0.59

* Results hit by non-cash charge

* Q4 combined ratio 96.0 vs 85.2 prior year

Feb 17 (Reuters) - State Auto Financial Corp (STFC.O) posted a loss for the fourth straight quarter as the regional property and casualty insurance holding company was hit by a charge on its investments.

The Columbus, Ohio-based company posted a loss of $0.6 million, or 2 cents a share, for the fourth quarter, compared with a profit of $41.7 million, or $1.01 a share, last year.

State Auto Financial said the results were hurt by a non-cash writedown charge of $29.7 million in its investment portfolio. Net realized investment losses were $32.7 million. Net income from operations, which excludes realized capital gains and losses on investments, was 53 cents a share.

Shares of the company closed at $22.20 Friday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Amiteshwar Singh in Bangalore; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott)



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