US specialty insurance group Assurant has reported a GAAP net income of $113.6 million for the first quarter of 2023, representing a 24% decrease compared to $149 million from the same period last year.
The company noted that the decrease was primarily due to lower earnings in Global Housing, including higher reportable catastrophes, and Global Lifestyle, as well as a higher effective tax rate compared to a favourable rate in the prior year period.
At the same time, Adjusted EBITDA decreased 21% to $242.9 million, in comparison to $308.9 million from Q122.
Assurant states that the decrease was primarily due to $44.3 million of higher pre-tax reportable catastrophes.
Excluding reportable catastrophes, Adjusted EBITDA decreased 7% to $293.3 million, or 5% on a constant currency basis, primarily due to lower Connected Living results in Global Lifestyle, which were partially offset by an increase in Homeowners within Global Housing.
Additionally, net earned premiums, fees and other income from the Global Lifestyle and Global Housing segments totalled $2.55 billion compared to $2.45 billion in Q122.
Assurant President and CEO Keith Demmings, commented: “We are pleased by our first quarter results, which reflected stronger than expected performance in Global Housing building on progress in fourth quarter 2022. While down year-over-year, Global Lifestyle’s results were in-line with our expectations and improved sequentially, reflecting better mobile performance and the benefit of expense actions in international.
“Overall, our first quarter results reinforced our confidence in delivering on our financial objectives for 2023 as we continue to strengthen key client relationships and execute on our digital-first vision and ongoing expense initiatives. With our long-standing focus on prudent capital management, we have been carefully monitoring the broader business and macroeconomic environment. We now expect to resume share repurchases later in the second quarter, but at modest levels given ongoing market volatility.”
