Expected .42 operating income/share - reported .59?? Wow - does that make it a 25% beat?


NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Insurer Cincinnati Financial /quotes/comstock/15*!cinf/quotes/nls/cinf (CINF 25.16, -0.02, -0.08%) said Thursday that its third-quarter profit fell 31%, to $171 million, or $1.05 a share, compared to $$247 million, or $1.50 a share last year. Revenue fell 15%, to $.101 billion, from $1.19 billion last year. Operating income at the company rose 30%, to $96 million, or 59 cents a share, compared to $74 million, or 45 cents a share last year. Analysts polled by FactSet Research had expected the company to earn 42 cents a share.