RLI Corp. has announced that it expects to incur preliminary pre-tax losses of between $22 million and $27 million, net of reinsurance, as a result of hurricane Michael.
The firm states that losses might actually differ materially from this initial estimate, as the range is based on reported and projected claim activity.
The company has also announced that its board of directors has declared a special cash dividend of $1.00 per share of common stock, which is expected to total approximately $45 million, and a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.22 per share.
Both will be payable on December 27th, 2018, to shareholders of record as of November 30th, 2018.
RLI Chairman & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jonathan Michael, said: “RLI has experienced strong momentum in 2018, as evidenced by growth across our product portfolio. Our strategy has always emphasized putting our capital to work to support profitable underwriting initiatives first, and that’s exactly what we have accomplished.
“In 2018, we experienced higher-than-average catastrophe losses. With the addition of Hurricane Michael, our year-to-date pre-tax net catastrophe losses are expected to be in the range of $40 to $45 million. Despite these catastrophes, we are pleased to be able to continue rewarding shareholders with a special dividend derived from our strong earnings and book value growth.”
