Amwest Insurance Shows Loss in Fourth Quarter

Amwest Insurance Group, a Woodland Hills provider of bail bonds and other surety bonds, reported an $856,000 loss for the fourth quarter of 1989.

The loss, which compared with a year-earlier profit of $882,000, was expected. In January, Amwest predicted that it would show a loss of between $750,000 and $1 million for the quarter that ended Dec. 31 because of several factors. The loss came despite a 56% jump in Amwest’s net premiums earned--a measure of its revenue--to $10.5 million from $6.72 million.

The loss partly stemmed from additional reserves that Amwest has set aside because of Proposition 103, an insurance reform measure whose implementation is still being debated by state authorities. Central to the measure is a rollback in customers’ premiums, and Amwest has created the reserves should it have to pay rebates.

For all of 1989, Amwest reported a profit of $1.45 million, down 60% from earnings of $3.62 million the previous year. Its annual net premiums earned rose 61% to $37.3 million from $23.1 million.