Second quarter profits at The Hanover Insurance Group plummeted 96 percent compared to a year ago, with the Worcester-based insurer booking a $2.3 million profit amid $85 million in catastrophe losses.

"While record second quarter catastrophes affected both the industry and our company, I am pleased with the solid progress we made in strengthening our franchise," said Frederick H. Eppinger, chief executive officer at The Hanover, in a statement. "I am very pleased with our core, ex-cat performance, as we continued to make important progress on all of our key financial levers."

Eppinger added, "In line with our expectations, key trends continued to improve, benefiting from our rate actions, improving business mix and increasing leverage of the investments that we have made. We also continued to generate strong growth in Commercial Lines with winning agents, positioning our company to achieve stronger and more balanced earnings in the future."

The Hanover said it wrote $802 million in net premiums in the second quarter, up 21 percent from the second quarter 2009.