INSURANCE

Transamerica Earnings Off 7.5%: The financial services and insurance company said income fell on reduced mortgage refinancings in its real estate and asset-management business. Transamerica Corp. said its first-quarter earnings excluding investment sales fell to $94.3 million, or $1.30 a share, compared to profit from continuing operations of $102.0 million, or $1.27 a share, a year earlier. The results put San Francisco-based Transamerica among a growing group of financial services companies hurt by higher interest rates that made Americans less likely to refinance their homes.