Hartford Reports $101 Million Loss

English: The skyline of Hartford, Connecticut, USA as seen from across the Connecticut River (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bloomberg – Hartford Financial Services, Inc., which employs more than 1,000 workers at an Upper Macungie Township call center, posted a second-quarter loss on the cost of retiring investments made by Allianz SE.

The net loss of $101 million, or 26 cents a share, compares with profit of $33 million, or 5 cents, a year earlier, according to a statement today from Hartford, an insurer based in the Connecticut city of the same name.  Chief Executive Officer Liam McGee struck a deal in April to pay about $2.4 billion to buy back debt and warrants that were issued to Allianz.

McGee is counting on profit from property and casualty policies as the insurer shrinks life operations.  He reached a deal in April to sell an annuities-distribution business and an agreement yesterday for American International Group Inc. to buy Woodbury Financial Services.

“Selling Woodbury is a favorable sign that Hartford is making progress on its divestiture plans,” Meyer Shields, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., said in a note today.  “Individual life and retirement plans will probably be more difficult to get done,” and those deals may be necessary to push the stock above $20 a share, he wrote.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-hartford-financial-20120802,0,62163.story