(RTTNews) - Thursday, insurance holding company Old Republic International Corp. (ORI: News ) reported a narrower loss for the third quarter, helped by some deferred income tax credits.

The Chicago, Illinois-based company's third-quarter net loss narrowed 3.7% to $46.2 million from $48.0 million in the prior-year quarter. On a per share basis, net loss narrowed 4.8% to $0.20 from $0.21 reported a year ago.

The company's comprehensive income for the quarter was $185 million, compared to a comprehensive loss of $107.6 million in the year-earlier quarter. Comprehensive income includes post-tax net unrealized gains/losses and other adjustments. The company had a post-tax net unrealized gain this quarter of $222.9 million, compared to an unrealized loss of $56.8 million last year.

Net loss for the quarter was reduced by deferred income tax credits of $20.5 million or $0.08 per share. The tax credits, which the company says were not recognized previously due to requirements of accounting rules, stem from estimates of losses from other-than-temporary impairments of investments, most of which were originally recorded in the second quarter of 2008.

On average, five analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated a loss of $0.17 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenue for the quarter rose 2.4% to $958.6 million from $936.3 million in the comparable quarter last year. Analysts expected revenue of $909.70 million for the quarter.
Segment wise, revenue from general insurance declined 9.1% to $514.4 million from $565.7 million in the comparable quarter last year. Revenue from mortgage guaranty dropped by 4.7% to $164.6 million from $172.8 million. Title insurance revenue gained 48.7% to 259.7 million from $174.7 million. Corporate and other revenue eased 13.9% to 19.8 million from $23.0 million last year.

The company's net operating loss for the quarter widened 45.8% to $66.1 million from $45.3 million.

Net premiums and fees earned for the quarter increased to $856.1 million from $835.2 million. Net investment income rose to $96.7 million from $93.8 million. Other income decreased to $5.7 million from $7.2 million. The company had a net realized investment loss of $0.9 million, compared to a gain of $6.7 million last year.

For the nine-month period, the company's net loss narrowed to $116.0 million or $0.49 per share from $431.8 million or $1.87 per share in the prior-year period. Revenue for the period decreased 2.7% to $2.75 billion from $2.82 billion in the year-ago period.

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