Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc.

HOUSTON, May 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SKWD) (“Skyward Specialty” or the “Company”) today reported first quarter 2025 net income of $42.1 million, or $1.01 per diluted share, compared to $36.8 million, or $0.90 per diluted share, for the same 2024 period.

Adjusted operating income(1) for the first quarter of 2025 was $37.3 million, or $0.90 per diluted share, compared to $31.0 million, or $0.75 per diluted share, for the same 2024 period.

Highlights for the first quarter included:

Gross written premiums of $535.3 million, an increase of 16.7% compared to 2024; Combined ratio of 90.5%; Ex-Cat combined ratio of 88.3%; Annualized return on equity of 20.5%; and, Book value per share of $21.06, an increase of 6% compared to December 31, 2024.

(1) See "Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures"

Skyward Specialty Chairman and CEO Andrew Robinson commented, "We delivered outstanding first quarter results, including adjusted operating income(1) which increased over 20% to $37.3 million, which is the best in Company history, and we achieved annualized return on equity of 20.5%. We continued our consistent and strong record of growth in underwriting performance as gross written premiums increased by approximately 17%, and we delivered a 90.5% combined ratio inclusive of 2.2 points of catastrophe losses. Our strong growth this quarter highlights the strength of our diversified business portfolio, with our global agriculture unit and our accident & health division each having a breakout quarter; we have highlighted these two areas as part of our intentional strategy to grow in areas less exposed to the P&C market."

"As we look out to the remainder of the year, we remain confident that the strength of our diversified business portfolio, the power of our Rule Our Niche strategy, our investment in technology and talent, and our track record for consistent execution, positions us to continue to deliver strong financial results that create long-term value for our shareholders."

Results of Operations

Underwriting Results

Premiums  ($ in thousands)  Three months ended March 31, unaudited   2025    2024   %
Change Gross written premiums  $ 535,326   $ 458,620   16.7 % Ceded written premiums  $ (192,055 )  $ (171,520 )  12.0 % Net retention   64.1 %   62.6 %  NM (1) Net written premiums  $ 343,271   $ 287,100   19.6 % Net earned premiums  $ 300,366   $ 236,342   27.1 % (1)Not meaningful

The increase in gross written premiums for the first quarter of 2025, when compared to the same 2024 period, was driven by double-digit premium growth primarily from the agriculture and credit (re)insurance, accident & health and specialty programs divisions, partially offset by a decrease in gross written premiums in the global property division.

Story Continues

During the first quarter 2025, the Company updated its underwriting divisions to align with how management currently oversees the business, allocates resources and evaluates operating performance. The Company added a ninth division, Agriculture and Credit (Re)insurance, which includes the Global Agriculture unit, previously reported with Global Property, and the Mortgage and Credit units, and focuses on specialty classes for which reinsurance provides a more attractive market entry. The Industry Solutions division is now the Construction & Energy Solutions division and the Inland Marine unit is now included in the Transactional E&S division. Programs is now Specialty Programs. Prior reporting periods have been conformed to reflect the new presentation.

Combined Ratio  Three months ended March 31, (unaudited)  2025   2024  Non-cat loss and LAE  60.2 %  60.6 % Cat loss and LAE(1)  2.2 %  0.4 % Prior accident year development - LPT  0.0 %  (0.1) % Loss Ratio  62.4 %  60.9 % Net policy acquisition costs  14.8 %  13.6 % Other operating and general expenses  14.0 %  16.0 % Commission and fee income  (0.7) %  (0.9) % Expense ratio  28.1 %  28.7 % Combined ratio  90.5 %  89.6 % Ex-Cat Combined Ratio(2)  88.3 %  89.2 %  (1)Current accident year (2)Defined as the combined ratio excluding cat loss and LAE(1)

The loss ratio for the first quarter of 2025 increased 1.5 points when compared to the same 2024 period, due to higher catastrophe losses, primarily from convective storms in the Midwest and the California wildfires. Partially offsetting the increase in the cat loss and LAE ratio was improvement in the non-cat loss and LAE ratio driven by the business mix shift.

The expense ratio for the first quarter improved 0.6 points when compared to the same 2024 period due to earnings leverage partially offset by higher acquisition costs due to the business mix shift.

The expense ratios for the first quarters of 2025 and 2024 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

Net Investment Income  $ in thousands  Three months ended March 31, (unaudited)   2025    2024  Short-term investments & cash and cash equivalents  $ 4,041   $ 5,088  Fixed income   16,730    12,478  Equities   657    627  Alternative & strategic investments   (2,097 )   104  Net investment income  $ 19,331   $ 18,297  Net unrealized gains on securities still held  $ 5,491   $ 8,991  Net realized gains (losses)   1,350    (688 ) Net investment gains  $ 6,841   $ 8,303

Net investment income for the first quarter of 2025 increased $1.0 million when compared to the same 2024 period, driven by increased income from our fixed income portfolio due to a higher yield and larger asset base. Partially offsetting the increase in income from our fixed income portfolio were (i) losses from the alternative and strategic investments portfolio due to the decline in the fair value of limited partnership investments, and (ii) less income from short-term investments driven by a lower yield.

Stockholders’ Equity

Stockholders’ equity was $850.7 million at March 31, 2025 which represented an increase of 7.1% when compared to stockholders' equity of $794.0 million at December 31, 2024. The increase in stockholders’ equity was primarily due to an increase in the market value of our investment portfolio and net income.

Conference Call

At 9:30 a.m. eastern time tomorrow, May 2, 2025, 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 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 nine underwriting divisions - Accident & Health, Agriculture and Credit (Re)insurance, Captives, Construction & Energy Solutions, Global Property, Professional Lines, Specialty 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 Great Midwest Insurance Company, Houston Specialty Insurance Company, Imperium 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, 
[email protected]
614-494-4988

or

Media contact:
Haley Doughty
[email protected]
713-935-4944

Consolidated Balance Sheets  ($ in thousands, except share and per share amounts)  (unaudited)  March 31,
2025  December 31, 
2024 Assets  Investments:  Fixed maturity securities, available-for-sale, at fair value (amortized cost of $1,410,269 and $1,320,266, respectively)  $ 1,397,508   $ 1,292,218  Fixed maturity securities, held-to-maturity, at amortized cost (net of allowance for credit losses of $250 and $243, respectively)   37,519    39,153  Equity securities, at fair value   108,075    106,254  Mortgage loans, at fair value   16,012    26,490  Equity method investments   88,588    98,594  Other long-term investments   37,646    33,182  Short-term investments, at fair value   308,042    274,929  Total investments   1,993,390    1,870,820  Cash and cash equivalents   112,916    121,603  Restricted cash   40,590    35,922  Premiums receivable, net   417,542    321,641  Reinsurance recoverables, net   902,970    857,876  Ceded unearned premium   232,147    203,901  Deferred policy acquisition costs   126,439    113,183  Deferred income taxes   26,984    30,486  Goodwill and intangible assets, net   87,089    87,348  Other assets   90,566    86,698  Total assets  $ 4,030,633   $ 3,729,478  Liabilities and stockholders’ equity  Liabilities:  Reserves for losses and loss adjustment expenses  $ 1,871,491   $ 1,782,383  Unearned premiums   708,347    637,185  Deferred ceding commission   45,544    40,434  Reinsurance and premium payables   243,083    177,070  Funds held for others   113,748    102,665  Accounts payable and accrued liabilities   78,154    76,206  Notes payable   100,000    100,000  Subordinated debt, net of debt issuance costs   19,545    19,536  Total liabilities   3,179,912    2,935,479  Stockholders’ equity  Common stock, $0.01 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized, 40,402,879 and 40,127,908 shares issued and outstanding, respectively   404    401  Additional paid-in capital   721,186    718,598  Accumulated other comprehensive loss   (10,047 )   (22,120 ) Retained earnings   139,178    97,120  Total stockholders’ equity   850,721    793,999  Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity  $ 4,030,633   $ 3,729,478

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income ($ in thousands)  Three months ended March 31, (unaudited)   2025    2024   Revenues:  Net earned premiums  $ 300,366   $ 236,342  Commission and fee income   1,976    2,026  Net investment income   19,331    18,297  Net investment gains   6,841    8,303  Other income   13    —  Total revenues   328,527    264,968  Expenses:  Losses and loss adjustment expenses   187,309    143,914  Underwriting, acquisition and insurance expenses   86,551    69,774  Interest expense   1,834    2,727  Amortization expense   337    388  Other expenses   1,061    1,188  Total expenses   277,092    217,991  Income before income taxes   51,435    46,977  Income tax expense   9,377    10,193  Net income   42,058    36,784  Comprehensive income:  Net income  $ 42,058   $ 36,784  Other comprehensive income:  Unrealized gains and losses on investments:  Net change in unrealized gains (losses) on investments, net of tax   12,255    (5,418 ) Reclassification adjustment for losses on securities no longer held, net of tax   (182 )   (908 ) Total other comprehensive income (loss)   12,073    (6,326 ) Comprehensive income  $ 54,131   $ 30,458

Share and Per Share Data  ($ in thousands, except share and per share amounts)  Three months ended March 31, (unaudited)   2025    2024   Weighted average basic shares   40,196,416    39,108,351  Weighted average diluted shares   41,680,595    41,085,136   Basic earnings per share  $ 1.05   $ 0.94  Diluted earnings per share  $ 1.01   $ 0.90  Basic adjusted operating earnings per share  $ 0.93   $ 0.79  Diluted adjusted operating earnings per share  $ 0.90   $ 0.75   Annualized ROE(1)   20.5 %   21.7 % Annualized adjusted ROE(2)   18.2 %   18.3 % Annualized ROTE(3)   22.9 %   25.0 % Annualized adjusted ROTE(4)   20.3 %   21.1 %  March 31  December 31 2025    2024   Shares outstanding   40,402,879    40,127,908  Fully diluted shares outstanding   42,234,957    42,059,182   Book value per share  $ 21.06   $ 19.79  Fully diluted book value per share  $ 20.14   $ 18.88  Fully diluted tangible book value per share  $ 18.08   $ 16.80   (1)Annualized ROE is net income expressed on an annualized basis as a percentage of average beginning and ending stockholders' equity during the period (2)Annualized adjusted ROE is adjusted operating income expressed on an annualized basis as a percentage of average beginning and ending stockholders' equity during the period (3)Annualized ROTE is net income expressed on an annualized basis as a percentage of average beginning and ending tangible stockholders' equity during the period (4)Annualized adjusted ROTE is adjusted operating income expressed on an annualized basis as a percentage of average beginning and ending tangible stockholders' equity during the period

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.

($ in thousands)  Three months ended March 31, (unaudited)   2025    2024  Pre-tax  After-tax  Pre-tax  After-tax Income as reported  $ 51,435   $ 42,058   $ 46,977   $ 36,784  Less (add):  Net investment gains   6,841    5,594    8,303    6,501  Net impact of loss portfolio transfer   —    —    241    189  Other income   13    11    —    —  Other expenses   (1,061 )   (868 )   (1,188 )   (930 ) Adjusted operating income  $ 45,642   $ 37,321   $ 39,621   $ 31,024

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.

($ in thousands)  Three months ended March 31, (unaudited)  2025  2024 Income before income taxes  $ 51,435  $ 46,977 Add:  Interest expense   1,834   2,727 Amortization expense   337   388 Other expenses   1,061   1,188 Less:  Net investment income   19,331   18,297 Net investment gains   6,841   8,303 Other income   13   — Underwriting income  $ 28,482  $ 24,680

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.

($ in thousands)  March 31,  December 31, (unaudited)  2025  2024  2024 Stockholders' equity  $ 850,721  $ 692,272  $ 793,999 Less: Goodwill and intangible assets   87,089   88,137   87,348 Tangible stockholders' equity  $ 763,632  $ 604,135  $ 706,651

Three months ended March 31, ($ in thousands)  2025  2024  % Change Accident & Health  $ 63,169  $ 40,901  54.4 % Agriculture and Credit (Re)insurance   87,847   43,321  102.8 % Captives   68,401   68,408  — % Construction & Energy Solutions   75,571   74,222  1.8 % Global Property   46,686   57,312  (18.5) % Professional Lines   41,166   42,239  (2.5) % Specialty Programs   62,675   52,178  20.1 % Surety   37,798   33,842  11.7 % Transactional E&S   52,006   46,232  12.5 % Total gross written premiums(1)  $ 535,319  $ 458,655  16.7 % (1)Excludes exited business

View Comments