03/26/2004 -- "Historically, auto insurers were never known as a customer-friendly bunch. Then came Progressive Corp. (PGR )"

So begins the story in BusinessWeek that features its annual assessment of the top-50 performing companies on the Standard & Poor’s 500*. Progressive tops that list in the number one position.

BusinessWeek made its selections based on criteria including growth in revenues, profits, and returns to shareholders over one- and three-year periods. It also examined net margins, debt levels and sales volume.

We received high marks for improving the efficiency of our operations, and for our history of industry innovations, such as being the first to offer comparison rates, the first to innovate in claims (including our newest innovation, a concierge level of claims service), and our constant drive to find ways to do things better, faster and cheaper for our 12 million customers.

This is the 8th annual Business Week 50 ranking. Last year, Progressive was ranked 5th.

The full story is available at businessweek.com.

**The S&P 500 index includes a representative sample of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. The index is often used to gauge the strength of the U.S. equities market.