Brown & Brown Reports Improved 2Q

Hard-hit insurance broker Brown & Brown BRO reported improved revenue trends and stabilizing pretax margins in the second quarter, an encouraging sign in light of the marked weakness in Florida and Southeast U.S. economies, where Brown draws a relatively high share of its overall volume. Total commission and fee revenue declined 1% from the first quarter of 2010 and 4% from the second quarter of 2009, but revenue looks to have improved in comparison with the trend in recent quarters. Brown's trailing-four-quarter commission and fee revenue total flattened out from the first quarter, after significant weakness in the previous six months, and the decline in this revenue from the first quarter to the second quarter was the smallest in the past four years.