American Coastal Insurance Corporation (ACIC), the property and casualty insurance holding company, has reported a $14.3 million net income attributable to the firm for the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to a net loss of $296.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2022.
ACIC confirmed that of this income, $17.1 million is attributable to continuing operations for the three months ended December 31, 2023, an increase of $16.1 million from net income of $1.0 million for the same period in 2022.
At the same time, the company’s total gross written premium (GWP) for Q4 increased by $16.0 million, or 13.4%, to reach $135.2 million, compared to $119.1 million from the prior year quarter.
ACIC noted that this increase was driven primarily by an increase within their personal lines written premium, driven by the Interboro Insurance Company (IIC) quota share ending and unearned premium being returned.
Additionally, for the full-year 2023, net income sat at $309.9 million, a substantial improvement compared to a net loss of $469.9 million for FY22.
ACIC said that drivers of the income from continuing operations during 2023 include decreases to loss and loss adjustment expenses due to the impact of Hurricane Ian making landfall in Florida in 2022, which ultimately caused an increase to losses that year, as well as increased GWP, an increase in ceded premiums earned, favorable prior year loss development during the year, decreased policy acquisition costs, and decreased general and administrative costs.
ACIC’s total GWP for FY23 climbed $97.7 million, or 17.1%, to reach $670.0 million, compared to $572.3 million from the prior year.
“We are pleased to deliver continued positive results to our shareholders. Our continuing operations reported core earnings of $17.7 million and $89.5 million for the 2023 fourth quarter and full year, respectively, leading to an annualized core return on equity of 100.6%. Our underlying book value per share was $3.97 at December 31, 2023,” commented Chief Executive Officer, Dan Peed.
Adding: “Although our personal lines segment experienced a pre-tax loss of $5.2 million, this is an improvement quarter-over-quarter, reflecting the effectiveness of our underwriting and rating actions. Our strategy to reduce expenses and improve the underwriting performance in our commercial lines segment has yielded ongoing positive results; consolidated net income for the fourth quarter was $14.3 million, with an underlying combined ratio of 50.9% for commercial lines and 67.2% on a consolidated basis.”
