Universal Insurance Holdings Grows Policies 7.9%, Calls Isaias Manageable

Universal Insurance Holdings said Hurricane Isaias claims appeared manageable as of its Oct. 23 call, while its policy count climbed 7.9% year over year to 953,611 at Sept. 30.

Universal is a property and casualty insurer offering personal residential coverage, including homeowners policies. Its policy total compares with 883,888 a year earlier. Florida accounted for 598,104 policies, while other states represented 355,507.

Direct premiums written totaled $608.9 million in the third quarter, up 2.7% from the year-earlier period. Florida premiums declined 3.3% to $414.4 million, while premiums in other states rose 18.5% to $194.5 million.

On the Oct. 23 call, which began at 10 a.m. ET, Chief Executive Stephen J. Donaghy said, “We view the storm as manageable based on claims activity to date.” Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, at 9:30 p.m. ET Oct. 9 (1:30 a.m. UTC Oct. 10), after the quarter ended.

Universal deployed field adjusters and contacted policyholders to speed inspections and payments. The company characterized claims activity as less significant than initially anticipated, but did not provide a claims count or dollar loss estimate.

Net income available to common stockholders rose to $52.5 million from $39.8 million a year earlier. Diluted GAAP earnings per share increased to $1.80 from $1.38, while adjusted diluted earnings per share reached $1.93, up from $1.36. Core revenue, a company-defined non-GAAP measure, grew 11.1% to $444.3 million.

The net combined ratio improved to 91% from 96.4%. The net loss ratio fell 5.6 percentage points to 64.6%, while the net expense ratio rose 0.2 point to 26.4%.