Assurant posts higher second quarter earnings

(Adds background, details)

NEW YORK, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Assurant Inc. (AIZ.N), a specialty insurer of health and employee benefits, said on Thursday that net income rose 10 percent in the second quarter, helped by a strong gain in its specialty property business.

Assurant said net earnings were $166.3 million or $1.36 a share, up from $151.1 million or $1.16 a share in the year-earlier quarter.

New York-based Assurant said operating earnings, which analysts use to measure performance because it excludes investments, were $168.3 million or $1.37 a share.

That beat analysts' consensus forecast of $1.26 a share, according to Reuters Estimates. In the year-ago quarter, Assurant earned $149.7 million or $1.15 a share in operating earnings.

Assurant's specialty property business posted a 52 percent gain in operating earnings to $90.2 million, bolstered by growth in creditor-placed homeowners insurance, including its acquisition in the year-ago second quarter of Safeco Corp.'s SAF.N creditor-placed homeowners business.

(Reporting by Ed Leefeldt and Christian Plumb)

((Editing by Derek Caney and Gerald E. McCormick; edward.leefeldt@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: edward.leefeldt.reuters.com@reuters.net; +1 646 223 6315)) Keywords: ASSURANT RESULTS/

(C) Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution ofReuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuterssphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group ofcompanies around the world.nN02457648