ING Canada Inc. today reported that the acquisition of Allianz Canada helped boost its profit in the first quarter.

The insurer said net income was $158.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, up from $115.1 million in the same period of the preceding year.

Revenue for the quarter also increased to $1,099 million, up 15% from $956 million in the corresponding quarter of 2004.

Basic and diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2005 amounted to $1.19 compared to $1.23 for the corresponding period in 2004. The company said the decrease reflects the higher number of shares outstanding following the December 2004 IPO.

“Results for the first quarter reflect the positive impact made by the acquisition of Allianz Canada on our revenues as well as a positive contribution to earnings. In addition, we achieved organic growth by increasing the number of insured risks by 4.7%, which partially offset the impact of an average reduction of 9% in our auto insurance premium rates from the first quarter of last year,” said Claude Dussault, president and CEO said in a release.

“All lines of business continued to perform well during the quarter. However, the improvement was driven by auto insurance. Reduced claim frequencies, favourable reserve developments as well as improvement in the year over year results of the Facility Association contributed positively to our results.”

ING Canada also declared a quarterly dividend of 16.25¢ per share.