FedNat Holding Company Reports Third Quarter of 2018 Results

SUNRISE, Fla., Nov. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FedNat Holding Company (the “Company”) (Nasdaq: FNHC) today reported results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018.

Q3 2018 highlights (as measured against the same three-month period last year, except where noted):

• Net income of $8.0 million or $0.62 per diluted share.
• Annualized return on equity of 12.1%, excluding investment gains.
• 17.1% decrease in loss and loss adjustment expenses to $62.5 million.
• $4.1 million of claims, net of recoveries, from Hurricane Florence, Tropical Storm Gordon and other severe weather events.
• Gross written premiums of $139.0 million.
• 22.0% increase in net premiums earned to $98.5 million.
• Quarter-end Florida homeowners’ in-force policies of approximately 249,000.
• 50.7% increase in non-Florida homeowners’ in-force policies to approximately 41,000.
• Investment gains of $1.8 million, including unrealized gains across our equity portfolio.
• Reduced staffing by 15 positions during the quarter, representing approximately $0.9 million in annual savings as a result of our continued focus on maximizing operational efficiencies in our core lines of business.  Year-to-date decreased 85 positions representing approximately $5.1 million in annual savings.
• Book value per share increased 3.3% to $17.45 as compared to $16.89 as of June 30, 2018. Excluding accumulated other comprehensive income, book value per share increased 3.5% to $17.91 as of September 30, 2018 from $17.31 as of June 30, 2018, representing annualized growth of 14.0%.

Mr. Michael H. Braun, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, said regarding the quarter’s results, “We continue to make progress in executing on our long-term growth objectives in a challenging market for Florida homeowners' insurers. Earnings were impacted by net retained losses due to Hurricane Florence and Tropical Storm Gordon and the continued wind-down of our non-core automobile and commercial general liability lines of business which we are exiting.  We also took action to strengthen our reserves in our core Homeowners line, in response to elevated fire and lightning claims in recent months. Net income was $8.0 million, or $0.62 cents, in the third quarter compared to last year’s quarterly loss from Hurricane Irma.  Revenue increased 18% over last year’s comparable quarter.  We improved non-catastrophe underwriting profitability and substantially improved our combined ratio from the prior year quarter. We continue to expand our non-Florida homeowners' business as gross premiums earned increased 54%.  I would like to acknowledge and thank our entire team though specifically our claims staff for providing excellent service to our policyholders in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, which was truly catastrophic in nature.”

Mr. Braun added, “We are in a good position to deliver an improved performance in 2019 and beyond. Our new reinsurance program provides strong protection and has already helped reduce our costs and mitigate risk. Our plan is to continue to execute on our strategic priorities to grow market share in our core Homeowners business, increase our presence in nearby coastal states, while continuing to manage our risk.  These strategic initiatives combined with our underwriting expertise set the stage for a strong 2019.”

Consolidated

• Net income of $8.0 million or $0.62 per diluted share during the third quarter of 2018, as compared to net loss of $4.7 million or $0.36 per diluted share during the third quarter of 2017.
• Comparing to June 30, 2018, book value per share increased $0.56 to $17.45 at September 30, 2018.  The increase was predominantly driven by income of $0.62 per share, as noted above, offset by an increase in our accumulated other comprehensive loss of $0.04 per share.

Revenues

• Total revenue increased $12.1 million or 12.3%, to $110.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018, compared with $98.7 million for the three months ended September 30, 2017.  The increase was primarily driven by lower ceded premiums due to decreased reinsurance spend, partially offset by a decline in gross premiums earned and lower recognized investment gains for the three months ended September 30, 2018 as compared to the same period in 2017.
• With focus on profitability and managing our underwriting exposure, gross written premiums decreased $15.8 million, or 10.2%, to $139.0 million in the quarter, compared with $154.8 million for the same three-month period last year.  The decrease in premiums written is the result of declining premiums in the non-core businesses we are exiting, Automobile and commercial general liability, as well as a decline in homeowners Florida.  Our homeowners non-Florida business continues to show exceptional growth year over year, especially in the states of Texas and Louisiana.
• Gross premiums earned decreased $7.9 million, or 5.2%, to $144.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018, as compared to $152.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2017.  The results are a reflection of our decision to exit the Automobile and commercial general liability lines and were partially offset by a 2.3% increase in earned premiums in Homeowners.  Additionally, in homeowners Florida, our 10.0% rate increase, effective August 1, 2017, has earned out and homeowners non-Florida continues to grow on an earned basis.
• Ceded premiums decreased $25.6 million, or 35.5%, to $46.4 million in the quarter, compared to $72.0 million the same three-month period last year.  The decrease was primarily driven by lower excess of loss reinsurance spend and lowering the homeowners Florida quota share from 10% to 2% as well as lower ceded premiums in Automobile as a result of decreases in premiums earned during the period.
• Other income decreased $1.5 million, or 28.9%, to $3.6 million in the quarter, compared with $5.1 million in the same three-month period last year, due to lower commission and brokerage revenue.  Commission income decreased as a result of lower Automobile fee income driven by the reduction in premiums earned and, to a lesser extent, lower fee income from other areas of the business.  The brokerage revenue decrease is the result of lower excess of loss reinsurance spend from the new reinsurance program, effective July 1, 2018.

Expenses

• Losses and loss adjustment expenses (“LAE”) decreased $12.9 million, or 17.1%, to $62.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018, compared with $75.4 million for the same three-month period last year.  The net loss ratio decreased 29.9 percentage points, to 63.4% in the current quarter, as compared to 93.3% in the third quarter of 2017.  The lower ratio was the result of the decrease in net losses from severe weather ($6.1 million in the third quarter of 2018, impacts of Hurricane Florence and Tropical Storm Gordon, as compared to $26.9 million in the prior year quarter, impacts of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey) and the decrease in the size of Automobile ($4.4 million lower losses, including adverse development) driven by the closure of poor performing programs.  These decreases were partially offset by $7.5 million of lower ceded losses related to Homeowners quota share treaties in the third quarter of 2018 as compared to the third quarter of 2017.
• The net expense ratio decreased 4.5 percentage points, to 36.9% in the current quarter, as compared to 41.4% in the third quarter of 2017.  Commissions and other underwriting expenses increased $3.0 million, or 10.5%, to $31.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018, compared with $28.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2017.  The increase is made up of lower ceding commissions as a result of homeowners Florida quota share percentage being reduced from 10% to 2% and higher homeowners non-Florida commission costs due to higher premiums earned.  These items are offset by lower salaries and wages from the impact of our headcount reduction initiatives.
• Interest expense increased $0.9 million to $1.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018, compared with $0.1 million in the prior year period. The increase in interest expense is the result of the Company issuing $45.0 million of senior notes, late in December 2017.  During the third quarter of 2017, the Company only had $5.0 million of debt on its balance sheet.

Line of Business Results

• Homeowners’ net income for the current quarter was $8.2 million, which included 32.6% growth in net premiums earned compared to the third quarter of 2017.  The combined ratio for the current quarter was 93.6%, which includes strengthening of loss reserves related to higher level of fire and lightning related losses.
• Automobile's net loss for the third quarter of 2018 was $1.4 million, as compared with a loss of $1.2 million in the prior year quarter, driven by prior year reserve development and our ongoing exit from this line of business.  During the quarter, the Company finalized a novation agreement to transfer all in-force policies and renewal rights of its Texas Automobile book of business to a third party, effective August 1, 2018.
• Other’s net income of $1.2 million in the third quarter of 2018, includes $3.1 million of net investment income, $1.8 million of investment gains and $1.0 million of interest expense, as well as adverse prior year development in our commercial general liability book of business.

Subsequent Events

• On October 10, 2018, Hurricane Michael made landfall in the panhandle region of Florida.  The Company currently estimates that its aggregate gross losses as a result of Hurricane Michael will be approximately $275 million according to preliminary post landfall catastrophe model estimates.  The Company believes that its losses, including both Florida and Non-Florida exposures, net of reinsurance, should not exceed its first event pre-tax retention amount of $23 million.  For additional information, refer to the Company's Form 8-K dated October 15, 2018.
• In conjunction with the Company’s post-hurricane season capital management planning, effective October 1, 2018, FNIC has adjusted the cession percentage on its current quota share treaty, which became effective on July 1, 2018, from 2% to 10%.  No other terms of the treaty were modified.  This treaty covers FNIC’s Florida homeowners book of business, on an in-force, new and renewal basis, and excludes named storms.  For additional information on this treaty, refer to the Company's Form 8-K dated June 29, 2018.

Conference Call Information

The Company will hold an investor conference call at 9:00 AM (ET) Wednesday, November 7, 2018. The Company’s CEO, Michael Braun and its CFO, Ronald Jordan will discuss the financial results and review the outlook for the Company. Messrs. Braun and Jordan invite interested parties to participate in the conference call.

Listeners interested in participating in the Q&A session may access the conference call as follows:

Toll-Free Dial-in:  (877) 303-6913

Conference ID: 2775258

A live webcast of the call will be available online via the “Conference Calls” section of the Company’s website at FedNat.com or interested parties can click on the following link:

http://www.fednat.com/investors/conference-calls/

Please call at least five minutes in advance to ensure that you are connected prior to the presentation.  A webcast replay of the conference call will be available shortly after the live webcast is completed and may be accessed via the Company’s website.

About the Company

The Company is an insurance holding company that controls substantially all aspects of the insurance underwriting, distribution and claims processes through our subsidiaries and contractual relationships with independent agents and general agents. The Company, through our wholly owned subsidiaries, are authorized to underwrite, and/or place homeowners multi-peril, federal flood and other lines of insurance in Florida and other states. We market, distribute and service our own and third-party insurers’ products and other services through a network of independent and general agents.

The Company’s supplemental line of business information is designed to afford users greater transparency into our results.  The “Homeowners” line of business consists of our homeowners and fire property and casualty insurance business, which currently operates in Florida, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana and South Carolina. The “Automobile” line of business consists of our nonstandard personal automobile insurance business which currently operates in Georgia, Texas, Alabama, and Florida, pending our withdrawal. The “Other” line of business primarily consists of our commercial general liability (pending our withdrawal) and federal flood businesses, along with corporate and investment operations.

Forward-Looking Statements /Safe Harbor Statements

Safe harbor statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

Statements that are not historical fact are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those discussed herein. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “budget,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “envision,” “estimate,” “expect,” “guidance,” “indicate,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possibly,” “potential,” “predict,” “probably,” “pro-forma,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” or “will” or the negative or other variations thereof, and similar words or phrases or comparable terminology, are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements might also include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following:

• Projections of revenues, income, earnings per share, dividends, capital structure or other financial items or measures;
• Descriptions of plans or objectives of management for future operations, insurance products or services;
• Forecasts of future insurable events, economic performance, liquidity, need for funding and income; and
• Descriptions of assumptions or estimates underlying or relating to any of the foregoing.

The risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties related to estimates, assumptions and projections generally; the nature of the Company’s business; the adequacy of its reserves for losses and loss adjustment expense; claims experience; weather conditions (including the severity and frequency of storms, hurricanes, tornadoes and hail) and other catastrophic losses; reinsurance costs and the ability of reinsurers to indemnify the Company; raising additional capital and our compliance with minimum capital and surplus requirements; potential assessments that support property and casualty insurance pools and associations; the effectiveness of internal financial controls; the effectiveness of our underwriting, pricing and related loss limitation methods; changes in loss trends, including as a result of insureds’ assignment of benefits; court decisions and trends in litigation; our potential failure to pay claims accurately; ability to obtain regulatory approval applications for requested rate increases, or to underwrite in additional jurisdictions, and the timing thereof; the impact that the results of our subsidiaries’ operations may have on our results of operations; inflation and other changes in economic conditions (including changes in interest rates and financial markets); pricing competition and other initiatives by competitors; legislative and regulatory developments; the outcome of litigation pending against the Company, and any settlement thereof; dependence on investment income and the composition of the Company’s investment portfolio; insurance agents; ratings by industry services; the reliability and security of our information technology systems; reliance on key personnel; acts of war and terrorist activities; and other matters described from time to time by the Company in releases and publications, and in periodic reports and other documents filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

In addition, investors should be aware that generally accepted accounting principles prescribe when a company may reserve for particular risks, including claims and litigation exposures. Accordingly, results for a given reporting period could be significantly affected if and when a reserve is established for a contingency. Reported results may therefore appear to be volatile in certain accounting periods.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made.  We do not undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made.

Contacts

Michael H. Braun, CEO (954) 308-1322,
Ronald Jordan, CFO (954) 308-1363,
or Erick A. Fernandez (954) 308-1341