Mid-year results for both U.S. property/casualty (P/C) insurers and reinsurers show sectors on the mend following a trying 2017, according to Fitch Ratings in a new report.
Operating performance moderately improved for P/C (re)insurers during the first half of the year thanks to improved core loss ratios, lower catastrophe-related losses and lower taxes along with favorable movement in loss reserves. The group operating return climbed to 8.0%, up from 6.8% in the prior year. The drop in catastrophe losses was a particular breath of fresh air after both P/C insurers and reinsurers endured harsh losses following the major storms of last year.
‘There was considerable growth in net written premiums during the first six months of 2018 with double-digit increases in the personal, Florida homeowners and reinsurer segments that were most directly affected by the catastrophic events of 2017,’ said Director Christopher Grimes. ‘Florida insurers especially benefited from a decline in non-named storm catastrophe losses, which did not recur at the same level as the first half of 2017.’
The first half of 2018 also saw strong underwriting results with the group combined ratio dropping to 94.5%, down 2.0 points from the prior year. Calendar-year underwriting results improved across each of the primary insurance subsets in 1H’18, with the largest improvement emanating from personal lines and Florida specialist segments. Both groups benefited from price increases and favorable current accident-year loss ratios.
Prior-period loss reserve releases also provided a boost to underwriting performance, representing approximately 1.9% of earned premium in 1H’18 versus 1.4% in the prior year. Buoying the favorable results were the personal and commercial auto lines in reference to the most recent accident years with numerous companies reporting stabilization in frequency trends while elevated severity trends generally persisted.
Net earnings for the group benefited from the recently enacted U.S. Tax Cut and Jobs Act, which lowered the U.S. corporate income tax rate and led to sizeable declines in effective tax rates reported by many companies in the group. The group’s overall effective tax rate declined to 17.4% in 1H18, compared with 24.5% in the 1H17.