Skyward Specialty Insurance Group Reports Third Quarter 2024 Results

HOUSTON, Oct. 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SKWD) (“Skyward Specialty” or the “Company”) today reported third quarter 2024 net income of $36.7 million, or $0.89 per diluted share, compared to $21.7 million, or $0.57 per diluted share, for the same 2023 period. Net income for the first nine months of 2024 was $104.4 million, or $2.53 per diluted share, compared to $56.7 million, or $1.50 per diluted share, for the same 2023 period.

Adjusted operating income⁽¹⁾ for the third quarter of 2024 was $29.4 million, or $0.71 per diluted share, compared to $25.0 million, or $0.65 per diluted share, for the same 2023 period. Adjusted operating income⁽¹⁾ for the first nine months of 2024 was $93.4 million, or $2.26 per diluted share, compared to $56.5 million, or $1.49 per diluted share, for the same 2023 period.

Highlights for the third quarter included:

• Gross written premiums of $400.0 million an increase of 12.4% compared to the third quarter of 2023.
• Combined ratio of 92.2% and ex-Cat combined ratio of 89.4% compared to 90.2% and 89.8%, respectively, for the third quarter of 2023.
• Annualized return on equity of 19.1% through the first nine months of 2024 compared to 15.8% for the same 2023 period.
• Book value per share of $19.89, an increase of 19% compared to December 31, 2023.

Skyward Specialty Chairman and CEO Andrew Robinson commented, "These past weeks have proven to be a very difficult time and our thoughts continue to be with those impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton; I am proud of the extraordinary efforts of our claims team and partners who continue to deliver exceptional service to our customers affected by these catastrophes."

"As for our third quarter, our results reflect our continued excellent execution of our "Rule our Niche" strategy, and our disciplined underwriting and our strategic risk management. Our adjusted operating income was up nearly 18% over the prior year quarter, continuing the trend of strong earnings growth we have delivered every quarter as a public company, and our 19.1% annualized return on equity year to date is outstanding. We delivered gross written premiums growth of 12.4% over the prior year quarter while continuing to increase our mix of business to areas that are less exposed to the P&C cycles. Given investments into our business, the momentum building in certain divisions, and with full consideration for the market backdrop, I am confident that we are well positioned to deliver strong growth as we look forward to the coming quarters."

Results of Operations

Underwriting Results

The increase in gross written premiums for the third quarter and first nine months of 2024, when compared to the same 2023 periods, was driven by double-digit premium growth primarily from our transactional E&S, programs, captives, surety and global property & agriculture underwriting divisions.

During the third quarter and first nine months of 2023, the Company cancelled a quota share reinsurance contract. Excluding the impact of the cancellation, net written premiums for the third quarter and first nine months of 2024 increased 16.5%⁽²⁾ and 32.0%⁽²⁾, respectively, when compared to the same 2023 periods.

The loss ratios for the third quarter and first nine months of 2024 increased 2.3 points and improved 0.5 points, respectively, when compared to the same 2023 periods. The third quarter of 2024 was impacted by higher catastrophe losses, primarily from Hurricanes Helene and Beryl.

The expense ratios for the third quarter and first nine months of 2024 were comparable to the same 2023 periods.

The expense ratios for all periods presented exclude the impact of IPO related stock compensation and secondary offering expenses, which are reported in other expenses in our condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income.

Investment Results

Beginning January 1, 2024 we simplified the investment portfolio classifications to align with our strategy and the underlying risk characteristics of the portfolio. The prior period has been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.

Net investment income for the third quarter and first nine months of 2024 increased $6.4 million and $33.6 million, respectively when compared to the same 2023 periods, primarily driven by increased income from our fixed income portfolio and short-term investments due to higher yields and larger asset bases.

Stockholders’ Equity

Stockholders’ equity was $797.5 million at September 30, 2024 which represents an increase of 10.2% when compared to stockholders' equity of $723.6 million at June 30, 2024. The increase in stockholders’ equity was primarily due to net income and an increase in the market value of our investment portfolio.

Share Repurchase Authorization

In October 2024, the Company's Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program authorizing the repurchase of up to $50.0 million of the Company's common stock.

Skyward Specialty Chairman and CEO Andrew Robinson commented, “The share repurchase program allows Skyward to opportunistically deploy our capital in an accretive fashion and ultimately drive long-term value creation for our shareholders. Given our strong cash position and financing flexibility, the repurchase program will not limit our ability to support our near-term growth or our flexibility to support ongoing investment in the key growth areas of our business, or to capture additional value creating opportunities.”

The shares may be repurchased from time to time in open market purchases, privately-negotiated transactions, block purchases, accelerated share repurchase agreements or a combination of methods and pursuant to safe harbors provided by Rule 10b-18 and Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The timing, manner, price and amount of any repurchases under the share repurchase program will be determined by the Company in its discretion. The stock repurchase program does not require the Company to repurchase any specific number of shares, and may be modified, suspended or terminated at any time.

Conference Call

At 9:30 a.m. eastern time tomorrow, October 30, 2024, Skyward Specialty management will hold a conference call to discuss quarterly results with insurance industry analysts. Interested parties may listen to the discussion at investors.skywardinsurance.com under Events & Presentations. Additionally, investors can access the earnings call via conference call by registering via the conference link. Users will receive dial-in information and a unique PIN to join the call upon registering.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This release contains certain financial measures and ratios that are not required by, or presented in accordance with, generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). We refer to these measures as “non-GAAP financial measures.” We use these non-GAAP financial measures when planning, monitoring, and evaluating our performance.

We have chosen to exclude the net impact of the Loss Portfolio Transfer (“LPT”), all development on reserves fully or partially covered by the LPT and amortization of deferred gains associated with recoveries of prior LPT reserve strengthening in certain non-GAAP metrics, where noted, as the business subject to the LPT is not representative of our continuing business strategy. The business subject to the LPT is primarily related to policy years 2017 and prior, was generated and managed under prior leadership, and has either been exited or substantially repositioned during the reevaluation of our portfolio. We consider these non-GAAP financial measures to be useful metrics for our management and investors to facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period. While we believe that these non-GAAP financial measures are useful in evaluating our business, this information should be considered supplemental in nature and is not meant to be a substitute for revenue or net income, in each case as recognized in accordance with GAAP. In addition, other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate such measures differently, which reduces their usefulness as comparative measures. For more information regarding these non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of such measures to comparable GAAP financial measures, see the section entitled “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

About Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc.

Skyward Specialty is a rapidly growing and innovative specialty insurance company, delivering commercial property and casualty products and solutions on a non-admitted and admitted basis. The Company operates through eight underwriting divisions - Accident & Health, Captives, Global Property & Agriculture, Industry Solutions, Professional Lines, Programs, Surety and Transactional E&S. SKWD stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, which represents the top fourth of all Nasdaq listed companies.

Skyward Specialty's subsidiary insurance companies consist of Houston Specialty Insurance Company, Imperium Insurance Company, Great Midwest Insurance Company, and Oklahoma Specialty Insurance Company. These insurance companies are rated A (Excellent) with stable outlook by A.M. Best Company. Additional information about Skyward Specialty can be found on our website at www.skywardinsurance.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for historical information, all other information in this news release consists of forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements are typically, but not always, identified through use of the words "believe," "expect," "enable," "may," "will," "could," "intends," "estimate," "anticipate," "plan," "predict," "probable," "potential," "possible," "should," "continue," and other words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated or implied. The most significant of these uncertainties are described in Skyward Specialty's Form 10-K, and include (but are not limited to) legislative changes at both the state and federal level, state and federal regulatory rule making promulgations and adjudications, class action litigation involving the insurance industry and judicial decisions affecting claims, policy coverages and the general costs of doing business, the potential loss of key members of our management team or key employees and our ability to attract and retain personnel, the impact of competition on products and pricing, inflation in the costs of the products and services insurance pays for, product development, geographic spread of risk, weather and weather-related events, other types of catastrophic events, our ability to obtain reinsurance coverage at prices and on terms that allow us to transfer risk and adequately protect our company against financial loss, and losses resulting from reinsurance counterparties failing to pay us on reinsurance claims. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events, or otherwise.

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc.

Investor contact:
Natalie Schoolcraft,
nschoolcraft@skywardinsurance.com
614-494-4988

or

Media contact:
Haley Doughty
hdoughty@skywardinsurance.com
713-935-4944

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc.
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted operating income – We define adjusted operating income as net income excluding the impact of certain items that may not be indicative of underlying business trends, operating results, or future outlook, net of tax impact. We use adjusted operating income as an internal performance measure in the management of our operations because we believe it gives our management and other users of our financial information useful insight into our results of operations and our underlying business performance. Adjusted operating income should not be viewed as a substitute for net income calculated in accordance with GAAP, and other companies may define adjusted operating income differently.        

Quota Share Reinsurance Cancellation Reconciliation - to exclude the impact of the cancellation of a quota share reinsurance contract on ceded written premiums, net retention, net written premiums and net earned premiums for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023:

Underwriting income – We define underwriting income as net income before income taxes excluding net investment income, net realized and unrealized gains and losses on investments, impairment charges, interest expense, amortization expense and other income and expenses. Underwriting income represents the pre-tax profitability of our underwriting operations and allows us to evaluate our underwriting performance without regard to investment income. We use this metric as we believe it gives our management and other users of our financial information useful insight into our underlying business performance. Underwriting income should not be viewed as a substitute for pre-tax income calculated in accordance with GAAP, and other companies may define underwriting income differently.

Adjusted Loss Ratio / Adjusted Combined Ratio – We define adjusted loss ratio and adjusted combined ratio as the corresponding ratio (calculated in accordance with GAAP), excluding losses and LAE related to the LPT and all development on reserves fully or partially covered by the LPT and amortization of deferred gains associated with recoveries of prior LPT reserve strengthening. We use these adjusted ratios as internal performance measures in the management of our operations because we believe they give our management and other users of our financial information useful insight into our results of operations and our underlying business performance. Our adjusted loss ratio and adjusted combined ratio should not be viewed as substitutes for our loss ratio and combined ratio, respectively.

Tangible Stockholders’ Equity – We define tangible stockholders’ equity as stockholders’ equity less goodwill and intangible assets. Our definition of tangible stockholders’ equity may not be comparable to that of other companies and should not be viewed as a substitute for stockholders’ equity calculated in accordance with GAAP. We use tangible stockholders’ equity internally to evaluate the strength of our balance sheet and to compare returns relative to this measure.

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc.
Gross Written Premiums by Underwriting Division (Unaudited)