State Auto close to breakeven in improving quarter

State Auto said it is on a path toward profitable growth as it
reported second quarter earnings that included narrowing operating
and underwriting losses.
Operating loss per share dropped from $0.69 in Q2 2016 to a near
breakeven $0.04 in the most recent reporting period.
And the combined ratio also improved by 8.5 percentage points to
106.2 percent as the loss ratio dropped by almost 10 points to 71.9
percent.
Underwriting performance was aided by a lower catastrophe loss
burden,...