Credit Herald

The housing market slowdown continues to slice into the bottom line of Town and Country-based Huttig Building Products Inc., a distributor of millwork, building materials and wood products.

The company’s loss widened in part because of $7.3 million in one-time charges, including a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $7 million.

Even though the first quarter is seasonally the slowest, the company’s results reflect the 29 percent decline in housing starts from the first three months of last year, said Jon Vrabely, president and chief executive.

High claims and losses from derivatives pushed Reinsurance Group of America Inc.’s first-quarter profit down to less than half what it earned in last year’s first quarter.

The Chesterfield-based life reinsurer reviewed the claims mix and decided it was consistent with previous periods, indicating that the business is performing as it should, said A. Greig Woodring, president and chief executive. The company views the claims as random events that are an expected part of its business.

Revenue was flat, but net premiums were up 15 percent paydayloans.com. Investment income was down 8 percent. U.S., European and South Africa operations all reported sharply lower profit, but performance in Canada and Asia was strong.

Amdocs, Ltd. beat Wall Street estimates and surged to strong profit growth in the second quarter on the strength of expansion in its managed services unit.

The telecom-services provider, which has its North American headquarters in Chesterfield, said it still sees strong demand for its customer service applications as telecommunications companies try to cut costs and improve customer service.

The company said chief operating officer Eli Gelman is stepping down and will leave the company at year’s end.

— RIDDHI TRIVEDI-ST. CLAIR, JERRI STROUD, TIM LOGAN

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