UPDATE 1-State Auto Financial sees higher Q3 catastrophe losses

(Recasts, adds details)

Oct 6 (Reuters) - State Auto Financial Corp (STFC.O), a regional property and casualty insurance holding company, expects a near 10-fold increase in catastrophe losses for the third quarter as hurricane Ike hit parts of the Midwest. The company sees pretax catastrophe losses between $55 million and $60 million in the third quarter, up from the $5.6 million it posted a year earlier.

The most significant losses occurred in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, as Ike delivered tropical storm-force winds to parts of the Midwest, State Auto said. The Columbus, Ohio-based company said it does not have any direct exposure to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEHMQ.PK), American International Group Inc (AIG.N), and the common or preferred shares of Freddie Mac (FRE.N) and Fannie Mae (FNM.N).

Shares of the company closed at $29.51 Friday on the Nasdaq. (Reporting by Amiteshwar Singh in Bangalore; Editing by Amitha Rajan)