Quarterly Profit Jumps 27% at Amwest Insurance

Amwest Insurance Group Inc., a provider of bail bonds and other surety bonds, reported a 27% jump in second-quarter profit compared to a year earlier.

The Woodland Hills-based concern said its net income in the quarter that ended June 30 rose to $1.2 million from $944,000 a year earlier. Its net premiums earned--an insurance industry gauge of total revenue--edged up 3% to $11.7 million from $11.4 million.

Amwest said the results included a tax gain of $114,000 and a $325,000 charge against earnings that stemmed from the company’s reorganization of its branch office distribution system.

For the first half of this year, Amwest’s profit rose 35%, to $2.24 million from $1.66 million a year earlier, and its six-month net premiums rose 6%, to $23.7 million from $22.4 million.