U.S.I. Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer David L. Eslick and other company executives at the Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.-based firm said the increased competition is especially evident for new business.

Pricing in middle and small accounts was weakening the fastest, while larger accounts are "hanging on a little bit," said Thomas E. O'Neil, senior vice president and chief operating officer.

Property coverage prices are continuing to see softening, executives said. However, workers' compensation in California and Florida, directors and officers, medical malpractice, and some transportation classes are still difficult in pricing terms and conditions, they said.

Mr. Eslick said that changes in the market go back to the carriers "who are looking at their reserve positions and loss ratios" and who "are now becoming much more open and more aggressive in going out and writing new business." He noted that while carriers are practicing strict underwriting on renewal business, they are "more aggressive" in pricing to get new accounts.

U.S.I. reported a 71 percent increase in fourth-quarter net income, based on the combination of increased revenue from acquisitions and organic growth.

For the fourth quarter, ending Dec. 31, 2003, net income increased $7.5 million, from $10.5 million, or 27 cents a share, to $18 million, or 38 cents a share. Revenues increased 9 percent, or $7.8 million, from $91 million to $99 million.

For the year, income increased $38 million to $35.5 million, or 77 cents a share, from a loss of $2.8 million, or $2.43 a share, in 2002. For the year, revenues increased 8 percent, or $27 million, from $328 million to $355 million.

Performance was helped, the firm said, by reducing the ratio of debt to total capitalization to less than 38 percent. It stood at 68.5 percent prior to an initial public offering of shares in 2001, said Robert S. Schneider, executive vice president and chief financial officer.

The firm said it expects organic growth this year to run in the range of 5-to-10 percent and, with expected acquisitions, earnings per share should come in at a $1.10 to $1.15 at the end of 2004, Mr. Schneider said.