Several insurance companies published their 2023 financial results this week, with the numbers a mixed bag of earnings and losses. Below is a rundown of their respective performances in the quarter and year ended December 31.
New York-headquartered Ambac Financial Group, the core business of which is a specialty property and casualty distribution and underwriting platform, reported a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $15.7 million in Q4 – a plunge from the $175.2 million net income attributable to common shareholders that was posted in the same quarter in 2022.
The loss was mainly attributed to the company’s legacy financial guarantee segment, which generated a net loss of $12 million in the quarter. Ambac’s specialty P&C insurance segment and insurance distribution segment, meanwhile, both contributed positively.
“I am pleased to report that for 2023 our specialty P&C platform exceeded our targets and generated over a half billion dollars of premium production, a 79% increase over 2022,” Ambac president and chief executive Claude LeBlanc said. “Moreover, Everspan produced its second consecutive quarterly profit and generated positive net income in 2023.
“Everspan’s profitability was supported by improved underwriting results as it continued to gain scale, posting a combined ratio of 106.5% for the year, a 50 percentage point improvement over the prior year. Overall, we remain focused on building the premier destination for MGAs and program partners and see significant runway ahead.
“Regarding our legacy financial guarantee business, working with AAC’s (Ambac Assurance Corporation) regulator, we finalized the capital model and revised stipulation and order for AAC. In addition, the strategic review we announced and launched last quarter is proceeding on plan, and we will update the market once we have something definitive to report.”
Overall, LeBlanc highlighted, Ambac made significant progress in advancing all its strategic priorities in 2023.
Publicly traded, Bermuda-based Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGL) saw an increase in its net income attributable to AGL both in Q4 and full-year 2023. The quarterly figure amounted to $376 million, while the result for the year stood at $739 million.
President and CEO Dominic Frederico commented: “Finishing with a strong fourth quarter, Assured Guaranty reported outstanding results for 2023. Our key per-share measures – GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) shareholders’ equity, adjusted operating shareholders’ equity, and adjusted book value – each ended the year at a record high.
“In terms of earnings, we produced more than six times 2022’s GAAP net income per share and more than two-and-a-half times that year’s adjusted operating income per share. Our share price rose by 20% during the year.”
Specialty insurer ProAssurance Corporation took a hit in 2023, suffering a $38.6 million net loss for the year. During the fourth quarter, the company posted a net income worth $6.4 million.
Ned Rand, president and CEO of ProAssurance, noted: “We continue to manage our business with a focus on returning to underwriting profitability. We are drawing on our decades of successful underwriting, effective claims management, and superior service delivery to counter the twin effects of challenging market conditions and worsening litigation trends.
“We continue to add new business which we believe will perform better overall than business that we are non-renewing. At the same time, we continue to walk away from business that fails to meet our pricing goals or underwriting standards and retain existing insureds at renewal pricing that we believe reflects the current market realities.
“Our experience in medical professional liability and workers’ compensation, the two highly cyclical lines of insurance in which we operate, has shown that our operating discipline and the long-term strategic improvements we’ve been implementing will ultimately ensure our success.”
For international specialty insurance firm Ryan Specialty, its earnings report showed higher results in the quarter and year ended December 31. Net income in Q4 amounted to $58.5 million; in 2023, $194.5 million.
“Our fourth quarter results capped off another great year, in which we delivered 15% organic revenue growth, 21% adjusted EBITDAC (net income before interest expense, net, income tax expense, depreciation, amortization, and change in contingent consideration) growth, and 20% adjusted EPS (earnings per share) growth,” founder, chairman, and chief executive Patrick G. Ryan said.
“Through a combination of our differentiated business model, industry-leading talent, speed to market, innovative product development, and persistent dedication to our clients, we offer a winning formula for success. We were very pleased with the success we had in executing on our M&A (mergers and acquisitions) strategy, as we had our second-largest year in acquired revenue and announced our agreement to acquire Castel.
“These acquisitions expand our total addressable market and provide valuable products and solutions to our clients. Additionally, given our balance sheet strength, broad financial flexibility, and strong free cash flow, we are pleased to initiate a quarterly cash dividend program to return capital to and create additional value for our investors.”
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