$839,000 Quarterly Net Reported by Unicare

Buoyed by a drop in competition and an increase in its rates, Unicare Financial Corp. posted third quarter net income of $839,000--a five-fold increase over earnings of $159,000 for the 1985 third quarter.

The Irvine-based insurance broker, which derives 90% of its sales from workers compensation coverage, showed a profit of $2.4 million for the first nine months of 1986--three times its nine-month net earnings of $990,000 last year.

Russell Leatherby, Unicare’s general counsel, said state-mandated increases in the benefits in workers compensation policies in 1983 and 1984 depressed the company’s 1985 earnings because they were “much greater than the industry and ourselves had anticipated,” and Unicare had not increased its rates sufficiently.

But rate increases in 1985 and this year have helped improve earnings, Leatherby said, as have lower interest rates and decreased competition industrywide.

While the company posted gains in investment income, the bulk of its revenues came from premium earnings, which increased to $9 million in the third quarter --up 52% from $5.9 million.

For the first nine months, premium earnings increased 43.6% to $23.4 million from $16.3 million.

The company, which went public on Oct. 24, will garner $9.7 million from the offering of 1 million shares of common stock, Leatherby said. The proceeds will be used to expand Unicare’s capacity to carry more policies.