Amwest Insurance Profits Fall 32% for Period

Amwest Insurance Group, a Woodland Hills provider of bail bonds and other surety bonds, said its third-quarter profit fell 32% to $729,000 from $1.08 million a year earlier.

Amwest said the decline partly reflects potential rebates and other costs it might have to pay because of Proposition 103, an insurance-reform initiative passed a year ago that calls for insurers to roll back their rates. Implementation of the measure is being worked out in Sacramento.

The company’s third-quarter net premiums earned--a gauge of Amwest’s underwriting revenue--jumped 59% to $9.68 million from $6.09 million.

For the first nine months of 1989, Amwest’s net income fell 16% to $2.31 million from $2.74 million, and its net premiums earned surged 63% to $26.8 million from $16.4 million.

Separately, Amwest said a federal judge in Newark, N.J., freed Amwest of any obligation in connection with a disputed $1.3-million contractor’s bond. Amwest alleged that a former agent wrote the bond without Amwest’s authorization.

Amwest also said it plans to buy up to $1 million worth of its common stock in open-market purchases until next June 30. The company currently has 2.4 million common shares outstanding.