Insurer's earnings up 55 in 3d quarter Allmerica Financial Corp.'s third-quarter earnings rose 55 percent, and the property and casualty operations reported ''solid quot; pretax segment earnings for the period despite being hurt by catastrophe losses primarily related to hurricanes in the Southeast. The Worcester insurance and financial services holding company said earnings were \$17.7 million, or 33 cents a share, for the quarter, up from net income ...