Insurer and reinsurer Markel Group’s operating income declined to $282.5 million in the first quarter of 2025 compared with $1.34 billion in the prior year quarter, as the company’s combined ratio rose slightly to 95.8% on the back of underwriting losses from the January 2025 wildfires in California.
Markel’s operating income for the quarter includes re/insurance operating income of $145 million, up on Q1 2024’s $135.8 million.
Of this, Q1 2025 operating income in the insurance business declined from $107.3 million to $53.2 million, offset by growth in reinsurance operating income to $25 million from $12 million, and growth in other insurance operations to $66.7 million from $16.5 million.
Underwriting results for Q1 2025 included $80.6 million of underwriting losses, or four points on the consolidated combined ratio, attributed to the January California Wildfires, compared to no catastrophe losses in Q1 2024.
Excluding the impact of the wildfires, Markel states that its consolidated combined ratio for Q1 2025 decreased compared to the same period of 2024, primarily due to more favorable development on prior accident years loss reserves in 2025 compared to 2024.
In terms of operating revenues, insurance revenue increased slightly to $2.187 billion in Q1 2025 from $2.185 billion in Q1 2024.
On the asset side of the balance sheet, Markel generated net investment income of $235.6 million in Q1 2025, an increase on the prior year’s $217.4 million, reflecting a higher yield and higher average holdings of fixed maturity securities in 2025 compared to 2024.
Revenues at Markel Ventures fell to $1.129 billion in Q1 2025 from $1.140 billion in Q1 2024, while the segment’s operating income declined to $102.5 million from $103.9 million.
All in all, total revenue declined to $3.399 billion in Q1 2025 from $4.466 billion in Q1 2024, as total operating income fell from $1.335 billion to $282.5 million.
Markel attributes the decreases in total revenue and operating income to unfavourable market value movements within our equity portfolio in 2025 compared to significant favourable movements in 2024.
Tom Gayner, Chief Executive Officer of Markel Group, commented: “The first quarter was a productive one at Markel Group. Our cornerstone insurance business moved along its path to better. We experienced a lower than initially anticipated impact from the California wildfires. Excluding that impact, our combined ratio returned to the low nineties. We also elevated Simon Wilson as the new leader of our Markel Insurance business. Simon is a proven leader and winner – and he has a clear vision for how to profitably grow that business. Finally, while the strong tailwinds of the past few years have eased, results within our Ventures businesses continued to hold up well.”
