New York, April 16, 2010 --The 4th most sizable auto insurer in the United States, Progressive Corporation, has reported Q1 profit growth of 27%. Quality investment practices and increases in revenue generated from auto insurance premiums are credited with the gain. Progressive stock rose 9¢ per share up to 44¢, making net profits rise from $232,500,000 up to $295,600,000. The organization's operational income has been reported at 41¢ per share.

Glenn Renwick, Progressive CEO, is employing innovative strategies in order to compete with other top auto insurance providers like Allstate and Geico. He stated, “We’ve got good pricing and we’re getting demand for our product that we’re very comfortable with, we want to be able to take that opportunity to take as much of that new business as possible. We’re pretty happy with our demand currently.”

For the past five fiscal quarters, Progressive has added to its number of automobile insurance policyholders. Comparatively, Allstate has reported declining policy numbers for the past eight fiscal quarters straight. The total number of Progressive auto insurance policies rose in December 310,000 up to 7.81 million. Total premium revenue increased from $3.41 billion up to $3.5 billion in the last 12 months. Renwick disclosed that Progressive will be allocating more resources towards marketing in the near future. “We think about spending to the degree that we can support and get the yield that we’re looking for,” Renwick stated. “If market conditions are such that we feel that we can get more, we’ll spend more.”

Cliff Gallant, KBW financial analyst, stated, “Progressive seems to be hitting on all cylinders. Growth rates are up as consumers continue to be highly cost- conscious and competitors need to adjust rates upward. The current marketing campaign also has been highly effective.” Progressive has implemented its newest marketing campaign featuring Flo, the instantly-memorable, strangely-attractive Progressive superstore salesperson. Statistics show that the effectiveness of this newest campaign is stacking up nicely against those of the Geico gecko and Allstate spokesman, Dennis Haysbert.

Renwick commented last week, “Consumers have responded well to our messages and market innovations, but the buzz seems to stem from ‘Flo’ -- our self- constructed employee of the Superstore.” And in addition to Flo's magnetic appeal, automobile insurance policy numbers are on the rise because of increased car sales as well. The automotive industry is seeing its biggest demand since seven months ago. Sales at Ford increased 40%. GM increased deliveries by 21%. And Toyota, even in the midst of its recall situation, reported a 41% increase in sales.

Progressive Corporation is enjoying a $30.8 million profit gain from investments from the first quarter of 2010. Compared to one year ago, when the insurer had to report a $73.4 million loss, that's sweet news. The book value of the organization has risen 71¢ per share since December 31, 2009, up from $8.55 to $9.26. Total organizational expenditures rose 4.4% up to $3.23 billion in the past 12 months.