Employers Profit Increases 44%

Employers Holdings Inc., a workers’ compensation insurance provider in West Coast states, rose the most since 2009 after first-quarter net income climbed 44 percent.

Employers jumped 11 percent to close at $22.54 in New York. That narrowed the decline for the year to 29 percent at the Reno, Nevada-based insurer.

Chief Executive Officer Douglas Dirks has been raising rates and shifting the mix of business after his company was stung by higher-than-expected claims costs in California, contributing to an 84 percent decline in fourth-quarter profit. Net income in the three months ended March 31 climbed to $10.8 million from $7.49 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement late yesterday.

“We are non-renewing poor performers,” Dirks said in a conference call. “We are targeting attractive classes of business both within and outside of California.”