Amwest Insurance Posts $2.65-Million Loss

Amwest Insurance Group Inc. posted a bigger loss in its fourth quarter, as well as a loss for the full fiscal year compared with a profit a year earlier.

The Woodland Hills-based specialty property and casualty insurance company had a net loss of $2.65 million for the fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31, compared with a net loss of $57,000 in the same period a year earlier. In the latest quarter, Amwest’s gross premiums written--which is similar to revenues--were $23.7 million, up 6% from $22.3 million a year earlier.

For all of 1996, Amwest posted a loss of $2.7 million, compared with a profit of $3.7 million in 1995. Its gross premiums written last year rose 3% to $97.3 million, from $94.2 million in 1995.