US primary insurer Cincinnati Financial Corporation has announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2026, reporting a net income of $274 million, compared to a net loss of $90 million in Q1 2025.
The insurer explains that this is after recognising an $82 million first-quarter 2026 after-tax decrease in the fair value of equity securities still held.
The primary driver for the net income increase was a $326 million boost from property casualty underwriting profit, and $31 million from investment income.
Non-GAAP operating income stood at $330 million, compared with an operating loss of $37 million in Q1 last year. The increase of $367 million included a favourable effect of $233 million from a decrease in after-tax catastrophe losses.
The company generated a 95.6% Q1 2026 property casualty combined ratio, which improved from 113.3% in Q1 2025.
Stephen M. Spray, president and CEO, noted: “while lower catastrophe losses drove much of the improvement, we also saw a decline in our current accident year combined ratio before catastrophe losses – giving us confidence in the health of our overall book of business.
“As we continue to refine pricing segmentation and risk selection, we’ve lowered that ratio by 3 points compared with last year’s first quarter to 87.5%.”
Cincinnati also reported net written premium growth of 7% to $2.7 million. The increase was attributed to premium growth initiatives, a higher level of insured exposures and with 2% of the growth due to first-quarter 2025 net reinstatement premiums.
The growth included the effect of $52 million of net reinstatement premiums in Q1 2025 related to the January 2025 wildfires in southern California. The contribution to Q1 growth from Cincinnati Re and Cincinnati Global Underwriting Ltd.SM in total was 0.9 percentage points.
Property casualty new business written premiums in Q1 2026 were down 11% to $339 million. Agencies appointed since the beginning of 2025 contributed $23 million, or 7% of total new business written premiums.
The company also saw $26 million life insurance subsidiary net income in the quarter, up $5 million compared with the first quarter of 2025, and 7% growth in Q1 2026 term life insurance earned premiums.
Spray commented: “Consolidated net written premiums grew 7% compared with first-quarter 2025. While average renewal pricing increases moderated slightly, we continued to price on a policy-by-policy basis.
“The pricing sophistication we’ve built into our underwriting process allows our underwriters to charge what we believe is an appropriate rate for the risk we are assuming based on each account’s unique characteristics. That rate might be higher or lower than the average.”
Adding: “For the remainder of the year, we’ll lean into our strategy of appointing more agencies and offering new products as a means to continue delivering profitable growth. In just the first three months of 2026, we’ve appointed 108 agencies across the U.S. We also continued to add new products, especially in excess and surplus lines.
“E&S isn’t the market of last resort anymore. While it remains flexible in terms and rates, our approach to this business has been more strategic. We often find that if we can write one portion of the account through our E&S operations, we have a better chance of placing other risks for that account in our standard business.”
