Unitrin rises after posting highest profit since 2007

Unitrin Inc., the insurer that announced plans to exit the subprime car-lending business last year, rose the most in three months after posting its highest quarterly profit since 2007.

Unitrin gained $1.33, or 6 percent, to $23.65 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The fourth-quarter profit of $66.3 million compares with a $10.6 million loss in the same period a year earlier, the Chicago-based insurer said in a statement late yesterday.

Revenue rose 17 percent to $730.9 million from the same period a year earlier on improved investment results. Premiums from insurance operations declined less than a percent to $600.5 million.

The insurer said it expects to recover about $230 million of capital invested in Fireside Bank, which made subprime loans to finance auto purchases, "over the next several years." The bank reported operating profit of $3.1 million, compared with $1.9 million for the same period a year earlier.