Universal Insurance Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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July 28, 2023

There are 6 speakers on the call.

Operator

Morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Universal Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Arash Solebani, Chief Strategy Officer. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today. Welcome to our quarterly earnings call. On the call with me today are Steve Donaghy, Chief Executive Officer and Frank Wilcox, Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, please note today's discussion may contain forward looking statements and non GAAP financial measures.

Speaker 1

Forward looking statements involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially From those statements, for more information, please see the press release and Universal's SEC filings, all of which are available on the Investors section of our website at universalinsuranceholdings.com and on the SEC's website. A reconciliation of non GAAP financial measures to comparable GAAP measures is included in the quarterly press release and can also be found on Universal's website at universalinsuranceholdings.com. With that, I'll turn the call over to Steve.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Arash. Good morning, everyone. Results were solid, including a 25.3% Annualized adjusted return on common equity and 85.1 percent adjusted diluted earnings per share growth year over year. While it's still early days, we're encouraged by favorable claims and litigation trends that are beginning to emerge as a result of recent legislative reforms and give us optimism as we look forward to 2024 and beyond. We continue to benefit from rate driven premium growth and an improving spread of risk across our geographic footprint.

Speaker 2

I'm very proud of the reinsurance program we put together for the 2023 2024 treaty year. Our programs terms, conditions and coverage are consistent with the prior year, but we reduced our consolidated retention and our ceded premium ratio. I'll turn it over to Frank to walk through our financial results. Frank?

Speaker 3

Thanks, Steve. Good morning. Adjusted diluted earnings per common share was $0.87 up from $0.47 in the prior year quarter. The increase mostly stems from higher underwriting income, net investment income and commission revenue. Core revenue of $337,000,000 was up 11.7% year over year with growth primarily stemming from higher net premiums earned, Net investment income and commission revenue.

Speaker 3

Direct premiums written were 547,100,000 up 2.7% from the prior year quarter, including 0.8% growth in Florida and 13.6% growth in other states. Growth reflects rate increases, partially offset by lower policies in force. Direct premiums earned were $463,300,000 up 8.1% from the prior year quarter, reflecting rate driven direct premiums written growth over the last 12 months. Net premiums earned were 303,300,000 up 9.5% from the prior year quarter. The increase is primarily attributable to higher direct premiums earned And a lower ceded premium ratio.

Speaker 3

The net combined ratio was 99.1%, down 1.8 points compared to the prior year quarter. The decrease reflects a lower net expense ratio, partially offset by a higher net loss ratio. The 73.8% net loss ratio was up 1 point 5 points compared to the prior year quarter, with the increase primarily attributable to higher unfavorable prior year reserve development, partially offset by a lower consolidated current accident year net loss ratio. The 25.3% net expense ratio improved by 3.3 points compared to the prior year quarter, primarily reflecting lower renewal commission rates paid to distribution partners. During the Q2, The company repurchased approximately 396,000 shares at an aggregate cost of 6,100,000 The company currently has $20,100,000 of share repurchase authorization remaining.

Speaker 3

On July 20, 2023, The Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.16 per share of common stock payable on August 11, 2023 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 4, 2023. With that, I'd like to ask the operator to open the line for

Speaker 4

questions. Thank

Operator

Our first question comes from Paul Newsome with Piper Sandler. Your line is open.

Speaker 5

Hi, and good morning. Thanks for the call. Could you give us a little bit more details About the reserve development and obviously a lot of interest in what's going on with Florida and That surge in claims that we saw lawsuits that we saw around tort reform and just More detail around that would be fantastic to just better understand how what the sources are and maybe How it may be more specific to Universal or more broadly back more broadly generated by broader factors?

Speaker 2

Yes. Hey, Paul. Good morning. This is Steve Donaghy. Thanks for checking in with us.

Speaker 2

Yes, I'll break down your question in 2 ways. First of all, regarding the prior year development, We've been working through the quarter on in the normal course of business, multiple commutations with our reinsurance partners And the FHCF in the State of Florida. So that drove a majority of the 13.8 number. So That's the explanation there. Regarding the litigation and AOB, we changed our tune from We're cautiously optimistic to optimistic a quarter or 2 ago and we continue to see that favorability in our numbers.

Speaker 2

Litigation is down considerably. AOB is down even more greatly. And one of the things that we don't really talk a lot about is From the legislation that was passed in July of 2021, we've seen an increase in notice of intent. And fortunately due to our scale, we've got a great team of people that are attacking that particular area. So it gives us an opportunity to close claims, Take care of our insureds and keep the bad actors at base, so to say.

Speaker 2

So we are not upset with an increase in that particular area and we've seen eliminating litigation through that department. Glad to expand on any other areas that you'd like.

Speaker 5

Curious if you're seeing there's a lot of news about litigation funding. I don't know if it's a factor of Florida or broader, but is that also having an impact in your area you see of that nature?

Speaker 2

We have we've seen the litigation funding out there. We talked to some plaintiffs folks who speak to us candidly and I think it is a market. It was certainly driving some behavior in Florida prior to the legislation passed at the end of last year. And again, I think there's markets for it and it's probably moving more out of Florida at least from the P and C side than coming into it at this point.

Speaker 5

And then finally, maybe we could step back a little bit. I mean, Outside of the tort reform, you folks are obviously like everybody else trying to raise rates rapidly. How do you think that process has gone in terms of getting rates relative to what the Underlying claim cost is running at, and does that generate Can we see that in the next couple of quarters with increasing the combined ratio or do you think that takes more time?

Speaker 2

Again, it's going to take another 12, 14 months for the legislation to affect our entire book. Our optimism is driven by the legislation and how we are seeing that impact our numbers. So even the numbers from Q1 To Q2, inbound litigation has decreased or continues to decrease and we expect to see that trend throughout the year. That ultimately leads to a benefit. And as you know, rate is driven by the prior 12 months.

Speaker 2

This year, the state of Florida has asked us to contemplate the future impacts of legislation in our rate making. And I think the state was very appropriately allowed us to take rate both on the normal basis and then also through the reinsurance increases that we experienced Prior to this year. So, and then the 3rd piece of rate is always inflation. And as you know, inflation has been steady. We've seen some of our TIV numbers come under less duress in 2023, and I think that's a good indicator for the impact

Speaker 5

Thanks, Jose. I appreciate the help.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thanks, Paul. Enjoy your weekend.

Operator

Thank you. One moment for our next question. We have a question from Nick LaCovello with Dowling and Partners, your line is open.

Speaker 4

Hey, guys. Just first off, would there have been any weather above plan in the current quarter under the prior disclosure?

Speaker 2

Hey, good morning, Nick. No, there's no weather above plan in Q2 outside of our loss pick. So we're no.

Speaker 4

Thank you. Was there any gross or what was the gross prior year development number? And I guess can we Also just further comment on the multiple commutations with Reinsurance Partners. I guess, I don't know how much you can talk about it, but I'm assuming that probably related to prior year coverage that you guys didn't think would attach and Commuting, it probably helped some of the capacity trade forward. I'm just trying to think of that in terms of what the gross reserves have been doing.

Speaker 2

Yes. We really don't from a go forward basis, it's more just looking at what is in the commutation, How do we distribute that into the prior years? What is our responsibility? What are the reinsurers' responsibilities going forward? And again, with the strength of the quarter, it didn't affect overall performance.

Speaker 2

And I think it speaks well to our focus on Reserves and also ensuring that our reinsurance partners are being adequately appreciated as we move forward as well.

Speaker 4

Got it. I guess this ties in with the prior year development, but I'm just thinking, right, because we've we're a couple of months removed from the reform, right? I'm wondering, have you seen any change in the trend of, I guess, reopened claims from the prior accident years just in the context of attorneys maybe looking at older Claims that wouldn't be covered under the new reforms?

Speaker 2

No, the trends are not Adverse to what we've seen in the past. So again, the legislation is having the impact desired and as More and more of our book rolls under the new legislation of renewal, we received that benefit. I think there was somewhat of a run up maybe at the end of 2022 early in 2023, But I think a lot of the people are looking to make a living elsewhere fortunately and we really don't see a driver of As compared to the past, in reopens and others. And with our policies and with our claims handling, Reopen claim is handled expeditiously and we try and get the insured the best information they can should they find something when a contract or somebody shows up. So it's normal course

Operator

Thank you. And there are no other questions in the queue. I'd like to turn the call back to Steve Denighi for closing comments.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Catherine. Appreciate it. I'd like to thank all of our associates, consumers, agents and our stakeholders. And in particular, our agents, we appreciate their assistance as we have continued to open up additional markets in Florida In the past 2 or 3 months and we appreciate their continued support in particular and for everyone in their continued support of Universal Insurance Thanks very much and have a great day.

Operator

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect. Everyone have a great

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Universal Insurance Q2 2023
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