Reno, NV – Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EIG), a holding company with subsidiaries that are specialty providers of workers’ compensation insurance and services focused on select, small businesses engaged in low-to-medium hazard industries, recently reported financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2023.
Financial Highlights:
(All comparisons vs. the first quarter of 2022, unless noted otherwise).
- Net income of $23.6 million or $0.86 per diluted share, versus a net loss of $2.3 million or a loss of $0.08 per share;
- Adjusted net income of $16.5 million versus $9.3 million, an increase of 77%;
- Adjusted earnings per diluted share of $0.60 versus $0.33, an increase of 82%;
- Gross premiums written of $194.9 million versus $172.4 million, an increase of 13%;
- Net premiums earned of $172.7 million versus $150.2 million, an increase of 15%;
- Net investment income of $27.6 million versus $19.1 million, an increase of 45%;
- Net investment gains reflected on the income statement of $6.4 million versus net investment losses of $17.3 million;
- Record number of ending policies in-force of 122,684, up 7%; and
- Returned $18.5 million to stockholders through a combination of share repurchases and regular quarterly dividends.
Management Commentary
Chief Executive Officer Katherine Antonello commented: “We are very pleased with our first quarter results. Higher new and renewal premiums, an increase in final audit premiums, significant growth in net investment income and a return to net investment gains drove a 36% increase in revenue year-over-year. We also ended the quarter with yet another record number of policies in-force.
“We recorded our current accident year loss and LAE ratio on voluntary business at 63.3%, below the 64.0% we maintained throughout 2022. As was the case in the first quarter of 2022, we did not recognize any prior year loss reserve development this quarter because: (i) a full actuarial study was not performed; and (ii) the amount of indicated net prior year loss reserve development was consistent with our expectations. We will evaluate our prior year reserves in more detail at mid-year when we routinely perform a full reserve study.
“Despite an increase in our year-over-year commission expense, our commission expense ratio improved by 0.4 percentage points to 13.5% when considering the corresponding increase in net earned premium. The same was the case with our consolidated underwriting and general and administrative expense ratio, which also improved by 0.4 percentage points to 25.7%.”
Ms. Antonello continued, “Our Cerity operating segment, which offers digital workers’ compensation insurance solutions directly to consumers, contributed nicely to our 15% growth in earned premium. Cerity’s gross and net written premiums this quarter were negatively impacted by cancellation adjustments, which had no impact on its earned premium.
“Lastly, we raised our regular quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share, an increase of 8%. This action reflects our strong balance sheet, abundant underwriting capital and our confidence in the Company’s future operations.”
The complete results release is available here: Employers Holdings, Inc. First Quarter 2023 Results, Increases Dividend
Source: Employers