DeRidder, LA – AMERISAFE, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMSF), a specialty provider of hazardous workers’ compensation insurance, recently announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018.
G. Janelle Frost, President and Chief Executive Officer, noted, “Our results this quarter demonstrate our ability to maintain discipline while navigating a competitive workers’ compensation environment. Pricing pressure continued as approved loss costs declined and carriers aggressively search for premium. AMERISAFE, however, focused on retaining and serving our valued policyholders through risk selection, proactive safety expertise, and claims management.”
Insurance Results
- Gross premiums written in the quarter increased by $2.3 million, or 2.4%, due to higher voluntary premiums written and higher payroll audits and related premium adjustments.
- Voluntary premium for policies written during the quarter ended March 31, 2018 increased by $1.4 million, or 1.6%, compared with the first quarter of 2017.
- Payroll audits and related premium adjustments increased premiums written by $3.3 million in the first quarter of 2018, compared to $2.2 million in the first quarter of 2017.
- The current accident year loss ratio for the first quarter was 71.5%, an increase of 1.0 percentage points from the 70.5% ratio for the full year 2017. During the quarter, the Company experienced favorable loss development for prior accident years, which reduced loss and loss adjustment expenses by $9.3 million, largely attributable to accident years 2015 and 2014. These results reflect improved trends for both claims closing, severity of claims and favorable case reserve development on claims that were closed during the quarter.
- For the quarter ended March 31, 2018, the underwriting expense ratio was 23.2% compared to 23.3% in the same quarter in 2017. The decrease in the quarter was due to lower compensation and insurance assessment expense compared with last year’s first quarter.
- The effective tax rate for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 was 16.7% compared with 27.8% for the first quarter of 2017. The decrease is due to the new federal corporate tax rate of 21% on underwriting profits and taxable bond income.
The complete earnings release is available here: AMERISAFE 2018 First Quarter Results