Old Republic International...
... saw its first-half net loss fall to $69.8m from $383.8m, largely reflecting a swing to realized investment gains of $300,000 from year-earlier losses of $429.6m. The group’s general insurance division posted pre-tax operating income of $104.6m, down 28%, on earned premiums of $1bn, down 10.8%, as the combined ratio rose to 101.5% from 97.4%. The mortgage guaranty division posted a pretax operating loss of $282.5m, up 7.4% from a year earlier, on earned premiums of $286.8m, down 3.3%. The division’s combined ratio rose to 212.8% from 203.2%.